Baseball Upsets #7 LSU in Comeback Thriller, 6-5

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Air Force Academy baseball team used a three-run ninth inning to complete a comeback upset win over #7 LSU, 6-5, Sunday afternoon, Feb. 21, at Alex Box Stadium. In the nightcap, AF was defeated by Louisiana Tech, 18-1, in a neutral site game at Alex Box.

For the Falcons, it was the first win over a top-10 ranked team since 2010. It was also the first win for Head Coach Mike Kazlausky over his mentor Paul Mainieri in six games against each other.

Game One - Air Force 6, #7 LSU 5

The Falcons capitalized on LSU's miscues on the offensive side, as the Falcons drew five walks and reached on three LSU errors. AF finished with six hits, led by a three-for-three day from sophomore Blake Covin, who also added a pair of walks, two runs scored, two steals, and an RBI.

On the mound, senior Joe Martinez III earned the win after getting the final two outs of the eighth inning, including one via strikeout. Freshman Paul Skenes, who started at catcher, earned the first save of his career in his first appearance on the mound after striking out two in the ninth.

Senior John Byrnes earned the start on the mound, and went a solid five innings, only allowing two runs on four hits with three strikeouts. In direct relief of him was junior Rob Martin, who was making his first appearance since 2019. The righty went 2.1 solid innings, while striking out a career-best six batters.

The Tigers struck first with a run in both the second and third innings to take a 2-0 lead early on. Covin led off the fourth with a single, and after a steal and error, he came in to score on an RBI ground out from junior Braydon Altorfer to make it 2-1. Later in the inning, another error allowed junior Gabriel Garcia to score from third, knotting the game at two apiece.

Byrnes settled in into the fourth and fifth innings, keeping the Tigers off the board to keep the tie game into the sixth inning. Covin led off the top of the sixth with his third single, and promptly stole second once again. He came around to score one batter later on a third LSU error to give AF its first lead of the day, 3-2.

Martin came in relief to start the sixth inning, and mowed down all three hitters he faced with three strikeouts to send it to the seventh. He punched out two more in a clean seventh to maintain the lead into the eighth.

The Tigers got the offense back on track in the eighth, striking for a two-RBI single to re-take the lead, 4-3, into the final turn at the plate. AF was not done yet though, as they drew two walks and got an infield single with one out to load up the bases. Two more walks drove in the tying and leading runs, followed by a sac fly off the bat of senior Christian Gambale, to give AF a two-run lead into the last of the ninth.

In the bottom of the ninth, Skenes switched from catcher to pitcher, and despite giving up a home run, notched a pair of strikeouts to lock down the save and the 6-5 upset victory.

Game Two – Louisiana Tech 18, Air Force 1

The bats could not keep the momentum into the nightcap, as the Falcons tallied just three hits against the Bulldogs, who were fresh making their season debut. Gambale led the way with an RBI double, while junior Alexander Pup had a hit, walk, and three stolen bases.

The Bulldogs got on the board first with a pair of runs, one unearned, in the second inning to make it 2-0 early on. They doubled that lead in the third inning with a two-run home run, making it a four-run game.

AF scored in the bottom of the third, as sophomore Trayden Tamiya led off with a walk, stole second, and was driven in on an RBI double from Gambale to get the Falcons on the board. The Bulldogs answered right back in the top of the fourth, as they scored seven runs, five of which came from two home runs, to lead it 11-1 after four.

Louisiana Tech added another run in the fifth, three runs in the sixth, and three more in the eighth to close out the 18-1 tally.

The Falcons will return to the diamond next Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 27-28, for the Mountain West Conference opening series against New Mexico. The series will be played in Amarillo, Texas and begin with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. MT.

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