Falcons Close Out 2010 Hosting BYU
5/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 19, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
BYU (23-28, 10-11) vs. Air Force (12-40, 2-18)
Schedule
Thursday, May 20 - 2 p.m.
Friday, May 21 - 2 p.m.
Saturday, May 22 - 12 p.m.
- Series at Falcon Field - USAF Academy, Colo.
Internet Radio/Live Stats:
- Live stats available for series at goAirForceFalcons.com
- Internet radio available at BYUCougars.com
The Coaches:
AF: Mike Hutcheon (Wayne State (Neb.), 1984) is 77-285 in his 7th year at Air Force and 316-425 in his 16th year as a head coach.
BYU: Vance Law (BYU, 1992) is 340-291-2 in his 10th year at BYU.
Series:
BYU leads 137-26
Last Meeting:
BYU took two of three games in Provo, Utah, April 9-11 2009.
Last Time Out:
Air Force: Went 1-3 at #4 TCU last weekend.
BYU: Swept San Diego State in a three-game series in Provo last weekend and lost 14-12 to Utah Valley on Tuesday.
Falcons Close Out 2010 Hosting BYU
The Air Force baseball team concludes the 2010 season hosting BYU this Thurs.-Sat., May 20-22 at Falcon Field. The Falcons will honor its five graduating seniors on Saturday. It will also be the three final games for head coach Mike Hutcheon, who announced his resignation effective upon completion of the season.
2010 Falcons
- The Falcons return six starters and 12 letterwinners.
- Air Force welcomes 17 freshmen.
- Senior first baseman Addison Gentry leads the team in hitting, batting .339 with 11 homers and 56 RBIs.
- Senior right-hander Alex Truesdale leads the Falcon pitching staff with a 2-8 record, 10.23 ERA to go with 55 strikeouts in 75.2 innings pitched.
- The Falcons are batting .301 as a team and fielding .959. The pitching staff has a 11.04 ERA.
Hutcheon Announces Resignation
Air Force baseball head coach Mike Hutcheon is resigning effective at the end of this season, according to an announcement from Director of Athletics Dr. Hans Mueh. Hutcheon, who is currently in his seventh season as head coach at Air Force, will be reassigned within the department for the remainder of his contract which has two years remaining after this season.
Kazlausky Named Interim Head Coach for 2011
Maj. Mike Kazlausky has been named interim head baseball coach at the Air Force Academy for the 2011 season, according to an announcement from Director of Athletics Dr. Hans Mueh. Kazlausky, who is currently an Air Officer Commander (AOC) for cadet squadron 12 at the Academy, will assume his duties at the end of the current baseball season. Kazlausky, otherwise known as "Coach Kaz" is a 1991 Academy graduate and has logged six years as an assistant coach at the Academy.
Scouting BYU
BYU enters the weekend with a 23-28 record. The Cougars are led offensively by senior outfielder Jonathan Cluff, who is batting .333 with five homers and 42 RBIs. Junior right-hander Kevin Sloan leads the team with a 9-0 record and has a 2.38 ERA in 45.1 innings pitched. BYU is batting .319, fielding .947 and has a team ERA of 6.48.
Series History vs. BYU
- Air Force and BYU have played each other 163 times.
- The Cougars lead the series 137-26.
- The two teams first met on June 2, 1962, where the Falcons defeated the Cougars, 4-2, at the District VII playoffs.
(Game-by-game breakdown of series on page 6).
Air Force-BYU Connections
BYU has three players on its roster from Colorado.
BYU Jr. right-hander David McKnight and AF soph. infielder Blair Roberts are both from Parker, Colo. and attended Chaparral HS.
- Jr. 1B/OF Ryan Bernal - Grand Junction/Grand Junction HS
- LHP Chris Howard - Colorado Springs/Fountain-Fort Carson HS
- BYU pitching coach Bobby Applegate was the pitching coach at Air Force for four years, from 1998-2001.
Recapping TCU Series
Air Force went 1-3 in four games vs. #4 TCU last weekend. The Falcons lost 19-17 in 12 innings in the first game Friday and 8-2 in game two. On Saturday, the Falcons upset the Horned Frogs 4-2. TCU won 5-3 on Sunday.
- The Falcons batted .276 in the series, fielded .968 and had a 7.05 ERA.
- Senior Ben Ausbun batted .444 in the series, with all four of his hits being doubles.
- Nathan Carter and Addison Gentry both hit two homers each.
- Todd Del Toro allowed just one run over 4.1 innings in Saturday's win over the Frogs.
- Kincaid Koehler became Air Force's first three-game winner with the win. - Sean Carley picked up his first-career save.
- Alex Truesdale pitched his third complete game of the season and seventh of his career.
National Leader In Triples
Air Force currently leads the nation with 33 triples and is second with 0.63 triples per game. The Falcons have led the nation in triples three previous times, last doing so in 2008.
Team Triples Triples Per Game1. Air Force 33 0.632. Arizona St. 32 0.673. Maine 29 0.58
School Record For Sac Bunts
Air Force's 42 sacrifice bunts so far this year is a new school record, surpassing the previous mark of 39, set by the 1979 team. The Falcons currently rank third in the MWC in sac bunts.
Senior K.J. Randhawa has 15 sac bunts so far this year, which is a single-season school record. His 30 career sac bunts is also a school record.
1. 2010 422. 1979 393. 2008 284. 2007 25
Best Fielding Percentage In School History
Air Force's .959 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.
Truesdale Surpasses 300 Innings Pitched
Senior righthander Alex Truesdale surpassed the 300 innings pitched mark with his start at Georgia State. With 322.2 career innings pitched, Truesdale ranks third all-time at Air Force and is second all-time in the MWC.
Air Force Most Innings Pitched1. Erik Fisher, 1999-02 358.02. Matt Kaercher, 1999-02 355.03. Alex Truesdale, 2007-10 322.2
Mountain West Conference1. Bruce Billings (SDSU), 04-07 323.12. Alex Truesdale, (AF), 07-10 322.2
Home/Road Splits
Air Force has put up significantly better offensive numbers in its 17 home games this year, compared to its 35 games away from Falcon Field. The Falcons are batting 89 points highter at home and slugging 196 points higher. Conversley, Air Force's pitching staff ERA is 1.34 points lower on the road.
Category Home Away Diff.Batting .358 .269 .089Slugging .593 .397 .196Runs Per GM 10.5 5.5 4.3ERA 11.91 10.57 1.34
Custons Having Historic Freshman Campaign
Freshman outfielder/catcher Garrett Custons is putting his mark on the Air Force record books. With seven games left to play, he ranks in the AFA freshmen top 5 in nine categories and is the freshman record holder in five categories.
Air Force Freshman rankingsCategory Total/RankAt Bats 219/1Hits 71/1Doubles 18/2Triples 5/3Homers 8/3RBIs 59/1Stolen Bases 15/2Sac Bunts 6/1Total Bases 123/1
Senior Class Moving Up The Record Books
Air Force seniors Matt Alexander, Addison Gentry, K.J. Randhawa and Alex Truesdale are leaving their marks at Air Force. All four-year starters will leave the Academy ranking in the top 10 all-time in several categories.
Alexander AF Rank/(#)Games 3rd (204)Doubles 2nd (56)Hits 2nd (257)At Bats 1st (787)RBIs 2nd (189)Homers 8th (32)
GentryGames 8th (192)Doubles 5th (54)Hits 9th (213)At Bats 5th (688)Walks 4th (99)
RandhawaSac Bunts 1st (30)At Bats 4th (692)Hit by Pitch 9th (24)
TruesdaleGames 8th (65)Innings Pitched 3rd (322.2)Strikeouts 5th (200)Losses 2nd (32)
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 42+ starts 3- Freshmen to start on mound/games 30/52
Percentage of starts by classSeniors 39.7Juniors 9.7Sophomores 11.3Freshmen 39.3
Percentage of pitching starts by classSeniors 26.9Juniors -Sophomores 15.4Freshmen 57.7
Carter Sets New Triples Mark
Junior outfielder Nathan Carter leads the Mountain West Conference with 10 triples. Carter now has a school-record 25 career triples, surpassing the previous AFA mark of 20 by Vern Mullis. 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).
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.
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
