Air Force Academy
UNLV
Air Force Drops 19-15 Slugfest To #21 UNLV
3/17/2018 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
USAF ACADEMY, Colo. - Despite a season-high 21 hits, Air Force baseball (6-12, 1-4 MW) was downed by #21 UNLV, 19-15, in Mountain West action Saturday afternoon at Falcon Field. Junior Nic Ready led the Falcons with two home runs and five RBIs.
UNLV (18-2, 5-0 MW) had a 12-run seventh inning to rally back for the win. The Rebels had 18 hits on the day.
A combined 16 pitchers were used in the game that featured 39 hits, 15 for extra bases.
Air Force led 7-3 before UNLV's big inning.
Ready led Air Force's offensive onslaught, going 4 for 5 at the plate, adding a triple and base hit. Colby Brown went 5 for 6 with two runs scored. Daniel Jones homered and drove in four. Tyler Zabojnik went 3 for 5 with three runs scored. Rob Dau, Drew Wiss and Tyler Ward had two hits each, with Wiss smacking a pair of doubles.
Nick Rodriguez and Jack-Thomas Wold had four hits each for UNLV. Rodriguez went 4 for 5 with a homer and four RBIs. Grant Robbins also homered for the Rebels.
Jake Gilbert (2-2) took the loss in relief. Air Force starting pitcher Matt Hargreaves pitched five innings, striking out two. Hargreaves pitched well early on, not allowing a base hit until the fourth inning. Ethan Nichols, Josh Leaser, Luke Chilcutt, Jeff Gerlica and John Byrnes also pitched in relief.
Blaze Bohall (1-0) picked up the win in relief for UNLV. Starting pitcher Paul Richy lasted just two innings, allowing four runs.
Air Force led early with three runs in the second and one in the third. UNLV scored one in the fourth and two in the fifth to make it a 4-3 Air Force lead. The Falcons went up 7-3 with a run in the fifth and two in the sixth.
The Rebels then scored the 12 runs in the seventh to go up 15-7. Air Force came right back with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. UNLV scored two runs in the eighth and ninth innings to go up 19-10.
Air Force scored five runs in the ninth and forced UNLV to use their closer. Bryan Menendez was able to close the game out without throwing a pitch, getting the final out on a pickoff for the save.
The three game series-finale is tomorrow. First pitch is slated for 12 pm MT.
