Air Force Academy
South Dakota St.
Air Force falls to South Dakota State, 23-9
3/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 7, 2010
USAFA, Colo. - South Dakota State scored 16 runs in the first four innings to defeat Air Force, 23-9, in a non-conference college baseball game Sunday afternoon, March 7, at the Academy's Falcon Field. Air Force fell to 3-9 overall this season while SDSU improved to 5-2. SDSU took three of the four games in the series.
South Dakota State opened the game with four runs in the first inning, all coming with two outs. Zach Briggs had a two-run double in the inning. The Falcons answered with two in the bottom of the inning. Blair Roberts and K.J. Randhawa each singled. Matt Alexander drove in a Roberts with a single to right. Randhawa scored when Addison Gentry grounded into a 3-6-3 double play. The Jackrabbits took a 7-2 lead in the top of the second, two of them coming on Eric Cain's two-run single. SDSU added two more in the top of the third on a double by Briggs, a triple by Daniel Telford and a wild pitch. AFA got two back in the bottom of the third. Matt Roberts singled and scored on Alexander's double. Alexander scored on Gentry's single.
The Jackrabbits broke the game open with seven in the fourth. Cain drove in two with a triple to left center and Billy Stitz drove in a pair with a double to left field to make the score 16-3. Air Force began to chip away at the lead with three in the fifth and two in the seventh to make the score 17-8. In the fifth, Gentry drove in a run with a single and pinch hitter Alex Bast drove in two with a single up the middle. Gentry's two-run homer in the seventh cut the SDSU lead to 17-8. Stitz hit a solo home run and Jesse Sawyer hit a two-run shot in the eighth for a 21-9 lead.
Cain and Briggs each had five hits for the Jackrabbits. Briggs was 5-for-5 with three RBI and two doubles. Cain was 5-for-7 with five RBI, a triple and three runs scored. Alexander and Gentry combined for seven hits and five RBI on the day for Air Force. Alexander was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, two RBI and a double. Gentry went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, three RBI and a home run.
Jackrabbit starter Sam Pieczynski earned the win as he went five innings and allowed six runs on 12 hits. AFA starter Alex Baker took the loss, allowing eight runs on seven hits in two innings.
Air Force travels to California for the Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament, March 11-14. The Falcons will face UC-Davis on Thursday, March 11, at 6 p.m. PT.
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