Falcons Blow By Army at Freedom Classic, 12-1

KINSTON, N.C. – The Air Force Academy baseball team blew by Army, 12-1, on day two of the Freedom Classic, Saturday, March 6, at Grainger Stadium. AF scored 10 runs in innings two through five to run away with the victory and clinch the series win.

The offense pounded out 12 hits on the afternoon, including six doubles. Junior Cayden Zimmerman led the way, going 3-for-3 with three doubles, three RBIs, two runs, and a walk. It is the first three double game for a Falcon since 2018.

Senior Tommy Gillman added two hits, including a double, along with a team-best four RBIs, a steal, and two runs scored. Junior Gabriel Garcia also had a two hit game with a double and a run batted in.

On the mound, junior Stevan Fairburn Jr. put together a brilliant start, getting the win after going the first six innings and only allowing one unearned run on three hits with four strikeouts. In relief, freshman Doyle Gehring tossed two scoreless frames with two Ks, while junior Connor Bright, who went to high school in Kinston, tossed a scoreless ninth and struck out two of his own.

Following a scoreless first, AF put four runs on the board in the second on a sac fly, and then a bases loaded clearing double from Gillman, to make it 4-0 early on. AF kept up the pressure in the third, tallying two more on a Zimmerman RBI double and senior Cole Blatchford RBI single to put the score at 6-0 after three.

AF got two more in each of the fourth and fifth, as Zimmerman tallied a two-RBI double in the fourth, and Gillman and Garcia added an RBI single and double, respectively in the fifth to give AF the 10-0 lead at the midway point. Army broke the shutout in the bottom of the fifth with an unearned run, but Fairburn worked around some other base traffic to keep a large lead.

A quick sixth led to the seventh, where a run scored for AF on a double play, making it 11-1. Gehring took over in the bottom of the seventh and worked around a single and walk with a double play to take it to the eighth.

In the eighth, Gehring yielded two more singles, but struck out the final batter looking to send it to the ninth. In the ninth, AF scored the 12th run on a wild pitch, but couldn't add any more insurance. Bright then took over in the bottom of the ninth in front of his friends and family. The Snow Hill native struck out a pair swinging to finish off the 11-run victory.

The Falcons will look for the sweep of their Service Academy rivals in the series finale tomorrow, March 7, from Grainger Stadium. First pitch is set for 10:30 a.m. MT.

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