Friday, April 2
Reno, Nev.
2 p.m. MT
Air Force Academy
11-8, 5-5
2
at
1
Nevada
7-11, 4-6
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Air Force
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
2
8
0
Nevada
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
1
5
1
Photo by: Eric Strom
Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader Over Nevada With Two Ninth-Inning Home Runs
4/2/2021 9:17:00 PM | Baseball
The Falcons have won six-straight games
RENO, Nev. – The Air Force Academy baseball team swept a doubleheader from Nevada, 2-1 and 7-5, Friday evening, April 2, at Peccole Park. The Falcons have won six-straight games, and completed two more miraculous wins in the ninth inning.
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This marks the second five-plus game winning streak for the Falcons this season, and is the first time AF has had two separate five-game winning streaks since 2016. With the 2-1 score in game one, the Falcons moved to 5-0 in one-run games on the season.
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Both game-winning runs came on go-ahead home runs in the ninth inning. In game one, freshman Paul Skenes hit a solo homer to take the 2-1 advantage. In game two, junior Gabriel Garcia hit a go-ahead grand slam to take a 7-4 advantage in the final frame.
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In total on the day, Skenes had five hits, a double, the home run, three RBIs, as well as his fourth save of the season on the mound, which leads the conference.
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Game One: Air Force 2, Nevada 1
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It was a true pitcher dual in game one, as four AF hurlers combined to allow just the one earned run. Junior Rob Martin earned his first career win after tossing a scoreless eighth inning. Skenes earned his fourth save of the season as he tossed the bottom of the ninth, immediately after he hit the go-ahead HR in the top half of the inning.
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Prior to the pitchers of record, senior John Byrnes tossed the first five innings, only allowing one run on three hits while striking out a career-best eight batters. In direct relief of him was junior CJ Dornak, as he threw two scoreless frames and allowed just one hit.
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On offense, AF still managed to scrape together eight hits, led by a four-hit game from Skenes. In addition to his homer, he drove in the other run and also tallied a double. Sophomore Blake Covin added a pair of singles as well.
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The Falcons struck first in the top of the first with a little two-out magic. After a double play, a walk and single put two on for Skenes. The rookie sensation singled to keft to drive in the first runner of the game. On the mound, Byrnes carved his way through the Wolf Pack order, only allowing three base runners through the first four innings to maintain the lead into the fifth.
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Nevada led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer to tie the game up, but Byrnes shut down the bats to keep the tie into the sixth. Dornak then entered from the pen, and tossed scoreless sixth and seventh innings to take it to the eighth.
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Martin started the eighth and went 1-2-3 with a K to take it to the ninth. Leading off the top of the ninth, Skenes launched a solo homer to left break the tie into the last of the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, Skenes took over on the bump and worked around a lead off single to lock up his conference-leading fourth save of the year, and the 2-1 victory.
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Game Two: Air Force 7, Nevada 5
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The Falcon bats picked up some momentum in the second game, striking for 12 hits. Garcia added a pair more knocks to his grand slam, while also scoring a pair of runs. Covin tallied three more hits as well, including a double, while senior Tommy Gillman added a pair of RBIs.
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On the mound, sophomore Jason Shuger picked up his first win of the season after throwing three innings in relief, striking out one. Junior Nathan Price earned his first save of 2021, and the seventh of his career, after closing out the three-run lead in the ninth. Junior Zach Argo had a solid outing after taking over on the mound in relief early on, throwing 3.1 scoreless frames without allowing a hit and striking out three.
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Nevada was the first to strike in game two with a two-run homer in the top of the first to double their run output from game one. AF responded in the top of the second with an RBI double from Gillman to cut the deficit in half, 2-1, early on.
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After entering in the bottom of the second inning, Argo kept the Wolf Pack off the board with a trio of scoreless innings. In the interim, AF tied the game in the top of the fourth with an RBI ground out from Gillman to make it 2-2 into the sixth.
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In the bottom of the sixth, Nevada got the run back, but AF was quick with the answer in the top of the seventh on an RBI single from Skenes to tie it once again, 3-3, with two innings to play. The Wolf Pack took the lead yet again in the bottom of the eighth to take a 4-3 advantage into the final frame.
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Like they have all season, AF did not back down, as they loaded up the bases with two outs on a single and two walks to bring up Garcia. On the first pitch, Garcia parked a grand slam to left field to put the Falcons up 7-4 into the last of the ninth. Price entered from the pen to start the ninth, and ran into some trouble, loading up the bases with two outs. He yielded a run on a HBO, but induced a pop out to close out the unbelievable 7-5 comeback win.
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The Falcons and Wolf Pack will return to the diamond tomorrow, April 3, for the series finale. First pitch from Peccole Park is set for 2 p.m. MT.
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This marks the second five-plus game winning streak for the Falcons this season, and is the first time AF has had two separate five-game winning streaks since 2016. With the 2-1 score in game one, the Falcons moved to 5-0 in one-run games on the season.
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Both game-winning runs came on go-ahead home runs in the ninth inning. In game one, freshman Paul Skenes hit a solo homer to take the 2-1 advantage. In game two, junior Gabriel Garcia hit a go-ahead grand slam to take a 7-4 advantage in the final frame.
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In total on the day, Skenes had five hits, a double, the home run, three RBIs, as well as his fourth save of the season on the mound, which leads the conference.
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Game One: Air Force 2, Nevada 1
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It was a true pitcher dual in game one, as four AF hurlers combined to allow just the one earned run. Junior Rob Martin earned his first career win after tossing a scoreless eighth inning. Skenes earned his fourth save of the season as he tossed the bottom of the ninth, immediately after he hit the go-ahead HR in the top half of the inning.
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Prior to the pitchers of record, senior John Byrnes tossed the first five innings, only allowing one run on three hits while striking out a career-best eight batters. In direct relief of him was junior CJ Dornak, as he threw two scoreless frames and allowed just one hit.
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On offense, AF still managed to scrape together eight hits, led by a four-hit game from Skenes. In addition to his homer, he drove in the other run and also tallied a double. Sophomore Blake Covin added a pair of singles as well.
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The Falcons struck first in the top of the first with a little two-out magic. After a double play, a walk and single put two on for Skenes. The rookie sensation singled to keft to drive in the first runner of the game. On the mound, Byrnes carved his way through the Wolf Pack order, only allowing three base runners through the first four innings to maintain the lead into the fifth.
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Nevada led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo homer to tie the game up, but Byrnes shut down the bats to keep the tie into the sixth. Dornak then entered from the pen, and tossed scoreless sixth and seventh innings to take it to the eighth.
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Martin started the eighth and went 1-2-3 with a K to take it to the ninth. Leading off the top of the ninth, Skenes launched a solo homer to left break the tie into the last of the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, Skenes took over on the bump and worked around a lead off single to lock up his conference-leading fourth save of the year, and the 2-1 victory.
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Game Two: Air Force 7, Nevada 5
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The Falcon bats picked up some momentum in the second game, striking for 12 hits. Garcia added a pair more knocks to his grand slam, while also scoring a pair of runs. Covin tallied three more hits as well, including a double, while senior Tommy Gillman added a pair of RBIs.
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On the mound, sophomore Jason Shuger picked up his first win of the season after throwing three innings in relief, striking out one. Junior Nathan Price earned his first save of 2021, and the seventh of his career, after closing out the three-run lead in the ninth. Junior Zach Argo had a solid outing after taking over on the mound in relief early on, throwing 3.1 scoreless frames without allowing a hit and striking out three.
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Nevada was the first to strike in game two with a two-run homer in the top of the first to double their run output from game one. AF responded in the top of the second with an RBI double from Gillman to cut the deficit in half, 2-1, early on.
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After entering in the bottom of the second inning, Argo kept the Wolf Pack off the board with a trio of scoreless innings. In the interim, AF tied the game in the top of the fourth with an RBI ground out from Gillman to make it 2-2 into the sixth.
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In the bottom of the sixth, Nevada got the run back, but AF was quick with the answer in the top of the seventh on an RBI single from Skenes to tie it once again, 3-3, with two innings to play. The Wolf Pack took the lead yet again in the bottom of the eighth to take a 4-3 advantage into the final frame.
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Like they have all season, AF did not back down, as they loaded up the bases with two outs on a single and two walks to bring up Garcia. On the first pitch, Garcia parked a grand slam to left field to put the Falcons up 7-4 into the last of the ninth. Price entered from the pen to start the ninth, and ran into some trouble, loading up the bases with two outs. He yielded a run on a HBO, but induced a pop out to close out the unbelievable 7-5 comeback win.
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The Falcons and Wolf Pack will return to the diamond tomorrow, April 3, for the series finale. First pitch from Peccole Park is set for 2 p.m. MT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Martin, Rob (1-0)
L: GUSTAFSON, S (1-2)
S: Skenes, Paul (4)
Batting:
2B: Skenes, Paul 1
HR: Skenes, Paul 1
RBI: Skenes, Paul 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Blatchford, Cole 1 ; Skenes, Paul 1
SB: Covin, Blake 1
CS: Skenes, Paul 1 ; Gillman, Tommy 1
Batting:
2B: BOSETTI, T. 1
HR: MARTIN, D. 1
RBI: MARTIN, D. 1
SH: HORMEL, B. 1 ; VALENZUELA 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MARTIN, D. 1
CS: HORMEL, B. 1
HBP: BOSETTI, T. 1
Game Leaders
dh/p
AB
4
R
1
H
4
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballOF
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OF
/ Baseball
IF/OF
/ Baseball
RHP
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RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC/RHP
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