Baseball Splits Doubleheader on Day Two of Armed Forces Invitational

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Air Force Academy baseball team split a double header on day two of the Armed Forces Invitational, Saturday, Feb. 29, at Segra Stadium, falling to Campbell, 4-1, before knocking off Army in the night cap, 7-3. With the win over the Black Knights, Head Coach Mike Kazlausky reached the 200 win milestone.

Game One: Campbell 4, Air Force 1

In game one, AF grabbed the lead early, but the offense then stalled resulting in the 4-1 defeat. The Falcons were only out-hit by one, 7-6, but the Camels were able to capitalize on three AF errors.

Senior Ashton Easley had two hits in the opener, including a double and the lone run scored. Knocking him in was fellow senior Tommy Gillman on an RBI single. Also tallying doubles were junior Cole Blatchford and sophomore Alexander Pup.

On the mound, AF got four innings of scoreless relief from sophomore CJ Dornak and senior Shawn Kelley. Dornak tossed 1.1 innings, striking out two, while Kelley went the final 2.2, striking out three and only allowing one baserunner on a walk.

The Falcons actually struck first, as Easley doubled in the first and was then driven in on a Gillman RBI single to make it 1-0 early on. Campbell answered back immediately with three in the top of the second and one on the top of the third to jump ahead 4-1.

From there, both teams combined for just five hits as the three run score held until the final out was recorded.

Game Two: Air Force 7, Army 3

In game two, Air Force rallied from two down, scoring six runs over the final two innings to split the weekend series with the Black Knights.

The offense tallied seven hits on the evening, all singles. Sophomore Cayden Zimmerman had two hits and two RBIs, while junior Christian Gambale also had a two hit day with an RBI. The Falcons were all over the base paths, as they walked eight times and stole four bases.

On the mound, senior Josh Leaser earned the win after going three innings in relief, allowing no runs and just one hit, while striking out one. Sophomore Nathan Price pitched the ninth and went 1-2-3.

Army opened the scoring in the first, taking a 1-0 lead. AF answered back in the bottom of the third on an RBI single from Gambale.

The 1-1 score held until the top of the sixth, when Army retook a lead, 3-1. Heading into the bottom of the seventh, AF still trailed before the tides turned. A single and two walks loaded the bases and a walk to Gillman made it 3-2. Zimmerman then tied the game with a sac fly, and that was followed by a wild pitch to score Easley and make it 4-2 with two to play.

AF wasn't done, though, as they plated three more in the bottom of the eighth to add some insurance. The tallies came from an RBI bunt single from sophomore Blake Covin, an RBI infield single from Zimmerman, and another wild pitch, putting the Falcons up 7-3 into the ninth. There, Price got three batted ball outs to lock in the 7-3 final.

The Armed Forces Invitational concludes tomorrow, March 1, with a solo game against Campbell. First pitch from Segra Stadium is set for 1 p.m. MT.

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.