Falcons Open MWC Play Hosting #5 TCU
3/25/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 25, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Air Force (5-16, 0-0) vs. #5 TCU (16-4, 2-1)
Schedule
Friday, March 26 - 12 p.m.
Friday, March 26 - 3 p.m.
Sunday, March 28 - 12 p.m.
- All games at Falcon Field - USAF Academy, Colo.
Internet Radio/Live Stats:
- Live stats available at goairforcefalcons.com
- Internet radio will be available through goFrogs.com
The Coaches:
AF: Mike Hutcheon (Wayne State (Neb.), 1984) is 70-261 in his 7th year at Air Force and 309-401 in his 16th year as a head coach.
TCU: Jim Schlossnagle (Elon, 1992) is 231-124 in his seventh year at TCU and is 344-171 in his 10th year overall.
Series:
TCU leads 18-1
Last Meeting:
TCU swept three games series in Fort Worth in 2008.
- The last two series at the Academy, 2008 & 2009, were snowed out.
Last Time Out:
Air Force: was swept in a four-game series at Hawai'i last weekend. TCU: Went 2-1 vs. BYU over the weekend and lost to Dallas Baptist and defeated Texas State during the week.
Falcons Open MWC Play Hosting #5 TCU
The Air Force baseball team opens Mountain West Conference play hosting fifth-ranked TCU his Fri. & Sun., March 26 & 28, at Falcon Field. Due to weather concerns, a doubleheader will be played Friday and one game on Sunday, both starting at 12 p.m. Live stats and internet radio will be available for all three games.
Highest Ranked Opponent Since 1999
TCU's number five national ranking is Air Force's highest-ranked opponent in 11 years. The last top-10 ranked opponent Air Force faced was top-ranked Rice in 1999. The Falcons upset the Owls 10-5 on May 14 of 1999 at Falcon Field. Air Force then lost the following tow games, 23-4 and 14-3.
2010 Falcons
- The Falcons return six starters and 14 letterwinners.
- Air Force welcomes 17 newcomers, including 10 pitchers to the team.
- Senior first baseman Addison Gentry leads the Falcon hitters, batting .321 with four homers and 23 RBIs.
- Senior right-hander Alex Truesdale leads the Falcon pitching staff with a 1-3 record, 6.88 ERA to go with 31 strikeouts in 34.0 innings pitched.
- The Falcons are batting .298 as a team and fielding .959. The pitching staff has a 9.94 ERA.
Scouting TCU
- TCU is 16-4 on the season.
- The Horned Frogs are led offensively by senior first baseman Matt Curry, who is batting .365 with six home runs and 25 RBIs. Junior right-hander Steven Maxwell leads the pitching staff with a 4-0 record and 4.32 ERA in 25.0 innings pitched.
- TCU is batting .332 as a team and fielding .966. The pitching staff has a 3.32 ERA.
Air Force-TCU Connections
- Air Force has seven players from Texas, tied for the most from one state (Seven players from California):
Fr. RHP Alex Baker (McKinney - McKinney HS)
Fr. LHP Ben Bertelson (Midland, Texas - Midland HS)
Fr. OF Johnathon Bramble (El Paso, Texas - Franklin HS)
Fr. RHP Jack Hourin (Austin, Texas - Lake Travis HS)
Fr. IF Caleb Spengler (McKinney - McKinney HS)
So. OF Blair Kessler (Boerne - Boerne HS)
Sr. RHP Alex Truesdale (Austin - S.F. Austin HS)
Series History vs. TCU
- TCU leads the series 18-1.
- The two teams first met on March 21, 1997, as Western Athletic Conference foes, where the Frogs defeated the Falcons, 9-3, at the Academy.
Year Result, Score1997 L, 3-9 (H)*1997 W, 18-10 (H)*1997 L, 8-14 (H)1997 L, 4-5 (H)*1999 L, 11-14 (A)*1999 L, 1-13 (A)*1999 L, 3-18 (A)*2006 L, 6-12 (N)#!2006 L, 1-16 (A)#2006 L, 2-13 (A)#2006 L, 4-5 (A)#2007 L, 0-6 (A)#2007 L, 2-10 (A)#2007 L, 2-7 (A)#2007 L, 2-9 (H)#2007 L, 5-15 (H)#2008 L, 1-5 (A)#2008 L, 3-6 (A)#2008 L, 2-3 (A)#
*WAC Conf. Game
#MWC Conf. Game
#! MWC Preseason Tourn.
Recapping Hawai'i Series
Air Force went 0-4 at Hawai'i last weekend. The Falcons lost 15-6, 4-0, 9-5 and 13-1.
- The Falcons batted .220 in the series, fielded .951 and had a 10.41 ERA.
- Blair Roberts was AFA's leading hitter, going 8-for-14 for a .571 average.
- Alex Truesdale was AFA's top starter piching his second-consecutive complete game.
- Alex Baker logged 5.2 innings out of the bullpen, posting a 3.38 ERA.
- Ben Bertelson, Michael Ceci, Alex Lerda-Plog and Matt Zettler did not allow a run in their relief outings.
Truesdale fans 12 vs. Hawai'i
Senior right-hander Alex Truesdale stuck out a career-high 12 batters vs. Hawai'i. He became the first Falcon to reach double-figures in strikeouts since Mitch Brown struck out 11 in 2006 and the first with 12 since Michael Tufte did so in 2001.
Experienced But Inexperienced Team
In many ways, the Air Force baseball team is very experienced. But in many ways, they are very inexperienced. The Falcons return several four-year starters but also welcome a large freshman class.
- Four-year starters/top pitchers - 4/2
- Freshmen with 10+ starts - 5
- Freshmen to start on mound/games - 11/21
Percentage of starts by class
Seniors 40.2
Juniors 10.5
Sophomores 3.7
Freshmen 45.6
Percentage of pitching starts by class
Seniors 29.4
Juniors -
Sophomores 17.7
Freshmen 52.9
Ruvolo Becomes All-Time Appearances Leader
Senior Michael Ruvolo became Air Force's all-time appearances leader when he pitched in his 91st career game vs. San Jose State on March 14. Ruvolo surpassed Steve Carson, who pitched in 90 games from 1989-92. Ruvolo tied the Mountain West Conference record of 92 vs. Hawaii.
Carter Second All-Time In Triples
Junior outfielder Nathan Carter needs one more triple to tie the Air Force record of 20, held by Vern Mullis. Carter currently leads the MWC with four triples. As a freshman, Carter led the nation with 10 triples.
All New Falcon Field
Falcon Field, home of Air Force baseball, underwent several upgrades in time for the 2010 season. The entire playing surface, except for a dirt mound is now comprised of synthetic FieldTurf. Falcon Field formerly had a grass outfield and dirt around the bases and home plate of the synthetic turf infield.
Listed below are the new upgrades to Falcon Field
- New all-weather synthetic FieldTurf.
- New fencing suffrounding entire field.
- New padding behind home plate.
- New hitters eye.
- New benches in the home dugout.
- New protective fencing in front of both dugouts.
Alexander Named Preseason All-American
Air Force senior designated hitter/first baseman Matt Alexander was named to the Ping! Baseball 2010 Preseason All-American Team. Alexander, who batted .383 with 15 home runs and 65 RBIs as a junior, was named third-team All-American as a designated hitter.
One of the top hitters in the Mountain West Conference as a junior, Alexander led the conference in RBIs and was second in home runs and slugging percentage (.710). In 2009, Alexander was a First Team Pro-Line NCBWA All-American and one of 16 semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, given to the nation's top collegiate player (one of two players from the MWC, joining Howser Trophy winner Stephen Strasburg of San Diego State). Alexander, a native of Oak Park, Calif., also garnered 2009 Third Team Ping! Baseball All-American honors.
Entering 2009, Alexander is Air Force's top returner in terms of career hits (184), batting average (.323), homers (25), RBIs (147) and games played (152).
Plenty of Experience Returning For Falcons
Air Force returns six seniors and six starters to the field in 2009. The six seniors are the most at the Academy since 2003. Four starters are three-year starters (Alexander, Ausbun, Gentry, Randhawa) and junior Nathan Carter is a two-year starter. Senior RHP Alex Truesdale is a fourth-year starter on the mound and senior RHP Michael Ruvolo is Air Force's most experienced reliever with 85 career appearances.
17 Freshmen Join Falcons
On the flip side of all that experience, Air Force also welcomes 17 freshmen, four of which are slated to start. The 2010 class features nine pitchers, including two left-handers. Six members of the freshman class also hail from Florida.
California, Florida and Texas Well Represented
The Air Force baseball staff has done a solid effort at recruiting the talent hot-beds of California, Florida and Texas as 20 of the 31 players on the roster are from those three states. Seven players hail from both California and Texas and six freshmen from Florida join the Falcons in 2010.
Truesdale Anchors Pitching Staff
Senior right-hander Alex Truesdale enters 2010 as Air Force's most reliable pitcher. Truesdale has led Air Force in innings pitched each of his first three years and has led the team in strikeouts and ERA the last two years. Truesdale has logged 38 career starts and struck out 161 in 264 career innings. He was the team MVP as a sophomore in 2008.
2010 Preseason Accolades
Sr. DH Matt Alexander
- Ping!Baseball Preseason All-American, 3rd Team
- Preseason All-Mountain West Conference Team
- Best Pure Hitter (One of top 3) in MWC as voted by conference coaches at Collegebaseballinsider.com
Sr. 1B Addison Gentry
- Baseball America Preseason All-MWC
- Preseason All-Mountain West Conference Team
Fr. RHP Sean Carley
- Baseball America Fifth Best MWC Newcomer
Up Next
Air Force hosts Colorado Christian on March 30, then travels to Salt Lake City for a three-game conference tilt at Utah, April 1-3.
