Falcons Sweep Midweek Series over Utah Valley with 12-9 Win

USAFA, Colo. – The bats came alive once again for the Air Force Academy baseball team as they swept the midweek series over Utah Valley with a 12-9 win, Tuesday afternoon, April 9, at Falcon Field. Air Force scored 28 runs over the two game stretch to get back to .500 (15-15) on the season.

Air Force spread 18 hits around the diamond, including eight that went for extra bases. Leading the charge was junior Ashton Easley, as he finished with three hits and two RBIs, including two more home runs, to give him three for the series and six on the season. Senior Nic Ready had a productive day, tallying three hits, including a double and a homer, to go along with three RBIs. Fellow senior Drew Wiss also had a game-high three runs driven in on two hits, including a double.

On the mound, freshman Stevan Fairburn Jr. earned the first win of his career in his second start, as he went the first 5.2 while striking out three. Sophomore Cole Blatchford got the final three outs of the game in his first appearance on the mound for the Falcons.

The first inning went by fast with a scoreless frame, and Fairburn Jr. danced around a pair of hits in the top of the second to keep it scoreless. Air Force broke the ice in the bottom of the second as a lead off triple for Blatchford led to an RBI fielder's choice from freshman Alexander Pup to make it 1-0. After a wild pitch and fly out allowed Pup to get to third, a second wild pitch scored the rookie from third to put it at 2-0. A walk and a single extended the inning, and Ready capitalized with a two out base knock to drive in the third run of the inning, and make it 3-0 into the third.

Utah Valley answered back with an RBI ground out in the top of the third to get to within two, but AF had the immediate response, as Pup had an RBI single in the bottom of the frame to maintain the three run lead after three innings.

After a 1-2-3 top of the fourth from Fairburn Jr., Air Force got a pair more in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI double from freshman Braydon Altorfer, as well as a bases loaded walk to Wiss, to get AF's lead up to 6-1 into the fifth.

The Wolverines led off the fifth with a solo homer, but got nothing else to keep the steady 6-2 lead into the middle innings. They continued to chip away in the top of the sixth, getting three more on two hits to cut the score to 6-5 in the middle of the sixth.

Needing a response, the Falcons got just that in the bottom of the sixth as Wiss doubled in a pair, and Easley followed with a solo home run to re-up the lead to 9-5 with three innings to play.

In relief, freshman CJ Dornak pitched a scoreless top of the seventh to take it to the stretch. The Falcons got another run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single from Altorfer to make it a five run game, 10-5, into the eighth.

Air Force ran into some more trouble in the top of the eighth, as UVU got two more runs on a two-run double to cut it to 10-7. That's when the dynamic duo of Easley and Ready both smacked solo home runs to get the lead back up to five, 12-7, into the ninth.

In the ninth, UVU was able to get the two runs back, but Blatchford was able to get the final three outs to lock down the three run win, 12-9.

The Falcons will be back in action this weekend when they play five games over three days against conference rival Fresno State in California. First pitch of game one of a doubleheader on Friday, April 12 is set for 4 p.m. MT.

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