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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Team Stats

Christian Gambale

Alexander Pup

Gabriel Garcia

Braydon Altorfer

Players Mentioned

Christian Gambale

Ben Hauser

Joe Martinez III

Nathan Price

Alexander Pup

Paul Skenes

Players Mentioned

Christian Gambale

Ben Hauser

Joe Martinez III

Nathan Price

Alexander Pup

Paul Skenes

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