Falcons To Play Five Road Games This Week
4/12/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 12, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Air Force (7-24) vs. Northern Colo. (12-15)/Georgia State (17-15)
Schedule
at Northern Colorado
Tuesday, April 13 - 3 p.m. - Jackson Field - Greeley, Colo.
at Georgia State
Friday, April 16 - 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 17 - 1 p.m. (DH)
Sunday, April 18 - 1 p.m.
- Georgia State series at the Field in Panthersville - Atlanta, Ga.
Internet Radio/Live Stats:
- Live stats available at UNCBears.com for Northern Colorado game.
- Live stats available at GeorgiaStateSports.com for Georgia State series.
- Radio available for Friday game at GeorgiaStateSports.com.
The Coaches:
AF: Mike Hutcheon (Wayne State (Neb.), 1984) is 72-269 in his 7th year at Air Force and 311-409 in his 16th year as a head coach.
UNC: Kevin Smallcomb (Sacramento St., 1985) is 173-226 in his eighth year at UNC.
GSU: Greg Frady (Troy State, 1987) is 115-93 in his fifth year at GSU.
Series:
vs. UNC: UNC leads, 92-53
vs. GSU: First Meeting
Last Meeting:
vs. UNC: UNC won 19-14 on April 6, at the Academy.
Last Time Out:
Air Force: Was swept in a three game series vs. San Diego State this past weekend.
UNC: Swept Texas-Pan American in a four game series over the weekend.
GSU: Swept Hofstra in a three game series over the weekend.
Falcons To Play Five Road Games This Week
The Air Force baseball team hits the road for five games this week. The Falcons travel on Northern Colorado on Tuesday, April 13 then play four games in three days, April 16-18, at Georgia State. Live stats will be available for all five games. Internet radio is available for Friday's game at GSU.
2010 Falcons
- The Falcons return six starters and 12 letterwinners.
- Air Force welcomes 17 newcomers, including 10 pitchers to the team.
- Freshman outfielder/catcher Garrett Custons leads the Falcons in hitting, batting .336 with five homers and 29 RBIs.
- Senior right-hander Alex Truesdale leads the Falcon pitching staff with a 2-5 record, 10.41 ERA to go with 41 strikeouts in 51.0 innings pitched.
- The Falcons are batting .306 as a team and fielding .963. The pitching staff has a 10.57 ERA.
Scouting Northern Colorado
Northern Colorado enters the week with a 12-15 record. The Bears are led offensively by junior second baseman T.J. Berge who is batting .375 with 18 RBIs. UNC's top pitcher is sophomore lefthander Joe Willman, who is 3-3 with a 5.24 ERA. UNC is batting .298, fielding .959 and has a team ERA of 7.27.
Series History vs. UNC
- Air Force and Northern Colorado have played each other 145 times.
- Air Force is 53-92 all time against Northern Colorado.
- The two teams first met on March 22, 1957 where the Bears of Colorado State College defeated the Falcons, 13-3.
Scouting Georgia State
Georgia State enters the weekend with a 17-12 record. The Panthers are led offensively by junior outfielder Ryan Fleming, who is batting .415 with 11 homers and 46 RBIs. GSU's top pitcher is junior RHP Charley Olson, who is 2-4 with a 3.75 ERA. Georgia State is batting .374, fielding .949 and has a team ERA of 7.01.
AF-GSU Connections
- Sophomore lefthander Michael Ceci is the lone Georgia native on the Falcon roster. Ceci is from Marietta, Ga., and is a Harrison High School grad.
Recapping SDSU Series
Air Force went 0-3 vs. San Diego State last weekend, dropping Friday and Sunday's games in 10 innings. The Falcons lost game one 14-9, game two 16-9 and game three 8-7.
- The Falcons batted .311 in the series, fielded .968 and had a 11.17 ERA.
- Matthew Roberts was AFA's leading hitter, going 6-for-12 for a .500 average. It was Roberts' second straight weekend batting .500 in a conference series.
- Ben Bertelson did not allow a run in two relief outings over the weekend.
- Season Carley was the Falcons' top starting pitcher, allowing four earned runs in 5.2 innings vs. SDSU on Sunday.
Randhawa Leads Nation In Sacrifice Bunts
Senior third baseman K.J. Randhawa leads the nation with nine sacrifice bunts. Randwaha had zero sac bunts last year but a school record 10 as a sophomore in 2008. Randhawa has 24 career sac bunts, which is also a school record.
Custons Has Monster Game vs. Colorado Christian
Freshman outfielder/catcher Garrett Custons had one of the biggest offensive games in Air Force history on March 30 vs. Colorado Christian. Custons went 6-for-7 with two doubles, two homers and nine RBIs.
The six hits are second most in a game in Air Force history and third most in Mountain West Conference history. The nine RBIs are third most in school history and fourth all-time in MWC record book. His fourteen total bases are the second most in AFA history and fourth in MWC history.
Best Fielding Percentage In School History
Air Force's .963 fielding percentage is currently the best in school history. The Falcons previous best was .957 in 2008 and 1979. The Falcons fielded .955 in 2009.
Home/Road Splits
Air Force has put up significantly better offensive numbers in its 13 home games this year, compared to its 18 games away from Falcon Field. The Falcons are batting 115 points highter at home and slugging 276 points higher. Conversley, Air Force's pitching staff ERA is 3.01 points lower on the road.
Fast Falcons
Air Force features one of the fastest teams in the nation in terms of triples and stolen bases. The Falcons lead the Mountain West in triples and are second in stolen bases. The Falcons are averaging 0.58 triples per game, ranking fifth in the nation. Junior Nathan Carter leads the conference with six triples and freshman Garrett Custons is second in the conference with 13 stolen bases.
Category/Total Avg./MWC Rank
Triples/18/0.58 /1
Stolen Bases/39 /1.26/2
Carter Sets New Triples Mark
Junior outfielder Nathan Carter hit his 21st career triple vs. San Diego State to set a new school record, surpassing Vern Mullis. Carter currently leads the MWC with six triples. As a freshman, Carter led the nation with 10 triples.
Youngsters Leading Team In Hitting
A sophomore and two freshmen are leading Air Force in batting average so far in 2010. Sophomore Blair Roberts leads the team with a .384 average. Freshman Matthew Roberts is second second with a .357 average and fellow rookie Garrett Custons is third with a .336 average. Custons also leads Air Force with 45 hits, 29 runs and 13 stolen bases.
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 - 4/1
- Freshmen with 13+ starts - 5
- Freshmen to start on mound/games - 17/31
Percentage of starts by class
Seniors 39.8
Juniors 10.8
Sophomores 7.2
Freshmen 42.2
Percentage of pitching starts by class
Seniors 32.3
Juniors -
Sophomores 12.9
Freshmen 54.8
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).
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.
Plenty of Experience Returning For Falcons
Air Force returns five seniors and six starters to the field in 2009. The five 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.
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 18 of the 29 players on the roster are from those three states. Six players hail from both California and Texas and six freshmen from Florida join the Falcons in 2010.
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 has four home games next week. The Falcons host Northern Colorado on Tuesday, April 20 and a weekend series, April 23-25, vs. New Mexico.
