Falcons Play Four Road Games This Week
5/3/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 3, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Air Force (11-33, 1-12) vs. Northern Colorado (20-21)/SDSU, (22-23, 7-8)
Schedule
at Northern Colorado
Tuesday, May 4 - 3 p.m.
at San Diego State
Friday, May 7 - 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 8 - 2 p.m.
Sunday, May 9 - 1 p.m.
- Northern Colorado game at Jackson Field - Greeley, Colo.
- SDSU series at Tony Gwynn Stadium - San Diego, Calif.
Internet Radio/Live Stats:
- Livestats for Northern Colorado game at uncbears.com
- Internet video and live stats available for SDSU series at goAztecs.com
The Coaches:
AF: Mike Hutcheon (Wayne State (Neb.), 1984) is 76-278 in his 7th year at Air Force and 315-418 in his 16th year as a head coach.
UNC: Kevin Smallcomb (Sacramento St., 1985) is 181-232 in his eighth year at UNC.
SDSU: Tony Gwynn (SDSU) is 236-236 in his eighth year at SDSU.
Series:
vs. UNC: UNC leads, 93-54
vs. SDSU: SDSU leads, 80-15
Last Meeting:
vs. UNC: AF won 14-13 on April 20, at the Academy.
vs. SDSU: SDSU swept three-game series, April 9-11, at the Academy.
Last Time Out:
Air Force: Went 2-3 last week, sweeping Creighton in a doubleheader and then getting swept in three at UNLV over the weekend.
UNC: Went 2-2 vs. North Dakota over the weekend.
SDSU: Went 1-2 vs. New Mexico over the weekend.
Falcons Play Four Road Games This Week
The Air Force baseball team plays four road games this week. The Falcons travel to Northern Colorado Tuesday, May 4 and then head to San Diego for a three-game set against San Diego State, May 7-9. Live stats will be available for all four games. Live video will be available for the SDSU series.
2010 Falcons
- The Falcons return six starters and 12 letterwinners.
- Air Force welcomes 17 newcomers, including 10 pitchers to the team.
- Senior first baseman Addison Gentry leads the team in hitting, batting .343 with nine homers and 49 RBIs.
- Senior right-hander Alex Truesdale leads the Falcon pitching staff with a 2-6 record, 9.86 ERA to go with 51 strikeouts in 63.0 innings pitched.
- The Falcons are batting .303 as a team and fielding .960. The pitching staff has a 10.89 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 Northern Colorado
Northern Colorado enters the week with a 20-21 record. The Bears are led offensively by sophomore outfielder Jarod Berggren, who is batting .382 with seven homers and 30 RBIs. UNC's top pitcher is junior right-hander Joe Sawicki, who is 6-2 with a 4.20 ERA. UNC is batting .321, fielding .960 and has a team ERA of 6.92.
Series History vs. UNC
- Air Force and Northern Colorado have played each other 147 times.
- Air Force is 54-93 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 San Diego State
San Diego State enters the weekend with a 22-23 record. The Aztecs are led offensively by sophomore outfielder Brandon Meredith, who is batting .374 with four homers and 38 RBIs. SDSU's top pitcher is junior RHP Addison Reed, who is 7-1 with 57 strikeouts in 67.0 innings to go with a 1.88 ERA. San Diego State is batting .294, fielding .961 and has a team ERA of 5.17.
Series History
- Air Force and San Diego State have played each other 95 times.
- The Aztecs lead the series 80-15.
- San Diego State has won 31 straight games in the series.
- Air Force's last win over San Diego State came on April 26, 2003, a 3-0 win at the Academy.
- The two teams first met on April 1, 1961, where the Aztecs won, 6-3. (Game-by-game breakdown of series on page 6).
AF-SDSU Connections
- Air Force has six players on its roster from California, the most of any state.
Recapping UNLV Series
Air Force was swept in the three games at UNLV. The Falcons lost 9-4, 23-8 and 11-7.
- The Falcons batted .300 in the series, fielded .961 and had a 15.75 ERA.
- Addison Gentry was AFA's top hitter, batting .500 with six hits, three doubles, a homer and six RBIs.
- Matthew Roberts also batted .500 in the series.
- Reliever Todd Del Toro was Air Force's most effective pitchers, not allowing a run over two relief appearances.
- Alex Truesdale led the Falcons with six strikeouts in six innings pitched.
Second All-Time in Sac Bunts
Air Force's 35 sacrifice bunts so far this year is second all-time in school history. The 1979 team leads with 39 sac bunts. The Falcons currently rank third in the MWC in sac bunts.
Senior K.J. Randhawa has 11 sac bunts so far this year, which is a school record. His 26 career sac bunts is also a school record.
1. 1979-39
2. 2010-35
3. 2008-28
4. 2007-25
Truesdale Surpasses 300 Innings Pitched
Senior righthander Alex Truesdale surpassed the 300 innings pitched mark with his start at Georgia State. With 310 career innings pitched, Truesdale ranks third all-time at Air Force and is second all-time in the MWC.
Air Force Most Innings Pitched
1. Erik Fisher, 1999-02/358.0
2. Matt Kearcher, 1999-02/355.0
3. Alex Truesdale, 2007-10/310.0
Mountain West Conference
1. Bruce Billings (SDSU), 04-07/323.1
2. Alex Truesdale, (AF), 07-10/310.0
Custons Having Historic Freshman Campaign
Freshman outfielder/catcher Garrett Custons is putting his mark on the Air Force record books. With 10 games left to play, he ranks in the AFA freshmen top 5 in eight categories.
Air Force Freshman rankings
Category-Total/Rank
At Bats 183/5
Hits 60/4
Doubles 14/5
Homers 7/5
RBIs 50/2
Stolen Bases 14/2
Sac Bunts 6/1
Total Bases 101/3
Best Fielding Percentage In School History
Air Force's .960 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 16 home games this year, compared to its 28 games away from Falcon Field. The Falcons are batting 84 points highter at home and slugging 195 points higher. Conversley, Air Force's pitching staff ERA is 1.55 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 0.64 triples per game, ranking second in the nation. Junior Nathan Carter leads the conference with nine triples and freshman Garrett Custons is second in the conference with 14 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 34+ starts - 3
- Freshmen to start on mound/games - 24/44
Percentage of starts by class
Seniors 39.0
Juniors 10.8
Sophomores 9.7
Freshmen 40.5
Percentage of pitching starts by class
Seniors 27.3
Juniors -
Sophomores 18.2
Freshmen 54.5
Carter Sets New Triples Mark
Junior outfielder Nathan Carter leads the Mountain West Conference with nine triples. Carter now has a school-record 24 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
Up Next
Air Force has three-plus road games next week. The Falcons will play a three-game set at TCU, in addition to finishing a fourth game that was halted in the top of the seventh at the Academy on April 28.
