Falcons Drop Series Finale at New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Air Force Academy baseball team dropped the series finale at New Mexico, 11-4, Sunday afternoon, Feb. 28, at Santa Ana Star Field. The Falcons totaled 10 hits on the day, but could not plate the necessary runs.

AF was led by a pair of two-hit days from senior Christian Gambale and junior Alexander Pup. Both had home runs, Gambale's a solo and Pup's a two-run homer. They are the first home runs for the Falcons on the year. Gambale also added a double to his ledger.

On the mound, a trio of Falcons had scoreless outings in relief. Senior Joe Martinez III, pitching in his hometown, went a third scoreless, while junior Nathan Price added two thirds scoreless. Senior Ben Hauser tossed a shutout inning as well, also notching a strikeout.

The Lobos picked up where they left off last night offensively, as they jumped ahead in the first with a pair of runs. They tacked on three more unearned runs in the bottom of the second to leap ahead 5-0 after two.

AF got on the board in the top of the fourth on a solo homer run off the bat of Gambale, the first AF homer on the season. The sixth of his career made it a four-run game. UNM upped their lead in the bottom of the fourth with three more runs to put the tally at 8-1 into the fifth.

Following a scoreless fifth from Hauser, UNM added on to its lead in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out, two-RBI single to make the deficit nine with three innings to play.

The Falcons got another big fly in the top of the seventh, as Pup lined a two-run homer to left for the first round-tripper of his career. Into the stretch, the score sat at 10-3. Freshman Paul Skenes, the starting DH, then took the mound in the bottom of the seventh, and worked around some base traffic to keep it a seven-run game.

AF added another in the top of the eighth with an infield RBI single from Skenes, but a strikeout and pick-off double play ended the inning without further damage. The Lobos responded right away though, getting the run back to keep it a seven-run game into the ninth. Despite getting a couple runners on in the ninth, UNM closed out the 11-4 final.

The Falcons will return to the diamond next Friday-Sunday, March 5-7, for the annual Freedom Classic in Kinston, N.C. This year's iteration will come against Army West Point. First pitch from Grainger Stadium on Friday is set for 4 p.m. MT.

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Players Mentioned

Christian Gambale

Ben Hauser

Joe Martinez III

Nathan Price

Alexander Pup

Paul Skenes