Air Force Academy
UNLV
Air Force Falls 7-4 Sunday to UNLV
4/9/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force baseball (14-16, 4-11 MW) lost to UNLV (12-22, 6-9 MW), 7-4, in Mountain West action Sunday afternoon at Falcon Field. On a blustery day, it was the Rebels that took advantage of the wind, hitting three home runs.
UNLV took control of the game in the fourth inning, breaking up a 2-2 tie ballgame with three runs. Two of the scores came on back-to-back home runs to right field--where the wind was blowing out towards--by Justin Jones and Cody Howard.
The Rebels tacked on two more runs in the sixth to lead 7-3. Tyler Jones hit a solo home run in the sixth and the Falcons added another run in the eighth to make it 7-4. Air Force also plated two runs in the third on a two-run home run by Adam Groesbeck.
The Falcons had 13 hits on the day. Groesbeck went 3-for-5 on the day, completing the weekend with 11 base hits. Jones and Tyler Zabojnik added two hits each. Bradley Haslam extended his hitting streak to 33 games with a double off the right field fence with two outs in the ninth inning.
Starting pitcher Matt Hargreaves (1-3) struck out eight in six innings pitched in the loss. Jake Gilbert and Ryan Holloway combined to give the Falcons three scoreless innings in relief.
UNLV had 12 hits in the game. Nick Ames went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs. Bryson Stott added three hits and three runs. Rebel reliever Tevita Gerber (3-4) picked up the win. Bryan Mendendez picked up the save. Starting pitcher Garrett Poole lasted just two innings. Poole had to leave the game in the third inning due to injury, when he tried to snare Rob Dau's base hit with his bare hand.
"We kept waiting for a big inning that never came today," Air Force head coach Mike Kazlausky said. "UNLV took advantage of the gale-force winds blowing out to right more than we were able to. We look to regroup and be ready to play four important road games this coming week."
Air Force returns to action Tuesday, April 11 at Northern Colorado.
