Air Force Academy
1-2
LSU
3-0
Falcons Fall to No. 1 LSU on the Road
2/17/2019 5:52:00 PM | Baseball
Air Force had nine hits to score five runs
Air Force's offense had its most efficient day of the season, collecting nine hits to get its five runs. Senior Daniel Jones and sophomore Christian Gambale both had two hit days, the former collecting an RBI, while the latter had a double.
On the mound, Air Force had a pair of solid debuts, as freshmen Zach Argo and Stevan Fairburn Jr. both had scoreless frames. Argo had a pair of strikeouts.
The Tigers jumped all over the Falcons in the first, getting seven runs on six hits. They added two more in the second on a two-run home run, and a third in the third to lead 10-0 after just three innings.
Air Force broke the shutout in the fourth as a lead off Gambale double led to an RBI single from Jones, his second RBI of the weekend. Sophomore John Byrnes then went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fourth to send it to the fifth.
LSU's offense got back on track in the fifth, striking for three more. Four additional runs in the sixth made it 17-1 into the seventh. In the seventh, Air Force got back on the board with a pair of runs, on a senior Drew Wiss sac fly and a senior Nic Ready RBI single, making it 17-3 into the stretch.
After a 1-2-3 inning in his debut from Argo in the bottom of the seventh, Air Force got a couple more in the eighth on a senior Gabe Martinez RBI single, and then two wild pitches later he scored, making it 17-5.
Another debut occurred in the bottom of the eighth, as Fairburn Jr. left the bases loaded in a scoreless frame. Air Force could not plate a run in the top of the ninth, though, resulting in the 17-5 final.
Air Force has one more game down on the Bayou tomorrow, Feb. 18, as they take on Southern University at Alex Box Stadium. First pitch against the Jaguars is set for 1 p.m. MT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hill (1-0)
L: Nichols, Ethan (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Gambale, Christian 1 ; Dau, Rob 1
RBI: Wiss, Drew 1 ; Ready, Nic 1 ; Jones, Daniel 1 ; Martinez, Gabe 1
SF: Wiss, Drew 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Gambale, Christian 1 ; Hauser, Ben 1 ; Pup, Alexander 1 ; Martinez, Gabe 1 ; Easley, Ashton 1
SB: Jones, Daniel 1
HBP: Gillman, Tommy 1
Batting:
2B: Smith 2 ; Duplantis 1 ; Cabrera 1 ; Watson 1 ; Garza 1 ; Mathis 1 ; Hughes 2
HR: Bianco 1
RBI: Smith 2 ; Reid 1 ; Duplantis 3 ; Cabrera 1 ; Dugas 1 ; Watson 2 ; Beloso 1 ; Bianco 2 ; Garza 2 ; Mathis 1
SF: Reid 1 ; Beloso 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Smith 2 ; Broussard 1 ; Doughty 1 ; Duplantis 2 ; Cabrera 2 ; Watson 1 ; Bianco 1 ; Garza 1 ; Willis 1 ; Mathis 1 ; DiGiacomo 1 ; Hughes 3
HBP: Moffitt 1
