Falcons Drop Both Ends of Doubleheader at SDSU

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Air Force Academy baseball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader at San Diego State, Saturday afternoon, March 20, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

Game One: San Diego State 9, Air Force 2

In game one, the offense banged out eight hits, led by a season-best three-hit day from senior Cole Blatchford, including a double, solo home run, and both runs scored. The other run was plated on an RBI double from senior Christian Gambale.

On the hill, senior John Byrnes took a tough loss after only allowing two earned runs on three hits over the first five innings. Sophomore Jason Shuger pitched the final three innings and was highly effective, only allowing one run, unearned, while striking out four.

The Aztecs struck first with an unearned run in the bottom of the first, but the Falcons responded right away with back-to-back doubles from Blatchford and Gamable to tie it at 1-1 after two frames. On the hill, Byrnes retired nine straight Aztec batters after walking the first batter to keep it 1-1 into the fourth.

SDSU broke the tie in the bottom of the fourth with a pair of runs to make it a 3-1 game. After a scoreless fifth, the Aztecs plated six runs, five of them unearned, in the bottom of the sixth to blow the game wide open, 9-1, into the seventh.

In the top of the seventh, Blatchford smacked a solo homer to deep left center, the first of his season, to close the gap to seven into the stretch. From there, the Falcons were able to get a few base runners, while Shuger shut down the Aztec bats, but the score held for the 9-2 final.

Game Two: San Diego State 5, Air Force 1

Air Force's pitching did not give up an earned run in game two, as three errors helped contribute to the five runs allowed. Junior Stevan Fairburn Jr. took the hard luck loss after going the first five, allowing four unearned runs on five hits, while striking out four.

In relief, junior Nathan Price went two innings, allowing one unearned run, while striking out one. Senior Ben Hauser tossed the final frame without allowing a run.

The bats tallied seven hits, led by a solo home run from freshman Sam Kulasingam, the first of his AF career. Sophomore Blake Covin also notched a three-hit day, all singles. It was his third three-hit game of the season.

After the first two innings went scoreless, the Falcons struck first in game two, as Kulasingam blasted a solo homer to right field, making it a 1-0 early on. The Aztecs responded with a trio of unearned runs in the bottom of the third to take a 3-1 lead into the fourth.

SDSU got two more unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth and the sixth to up their lead to 5-1 into the late innings. Despite scoreless frames on the mound from Price and Hauser, the offense could not scrape together any more runs to solidify the 5-1 tally.

AF will be back in action tomorrow, March 21, for the series finale against the Aztecs. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. MT.

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