Falcons Split Doubleheader With Nevada

USAFA, Colo. – The Air Force Academy baseball team split a doubleheader against Nevada, Saturday afternoon, April 24, at Falcon Field. AF took game one, 6-3, before falling in the nightcap, 14-7.

Game One: Air Force 6, Nevada 3

The Falcons used a good mix of clutch hitting and pitching to take the opener. The offense knocked out 10 hits, while the pitchers allowed just two earned runs on five hits.

On the mound, senior John Byrnes earned his third win of the season, as he was brilliant once again. The tall righty allowed just one run, which was unearned, on two hits over six innings while striking out three. It was his second-straight outing with no earned runs allowed and he has only allowed two earned runs over his last 23.1 innings. He lowered his MW-leading ERA to 2.47 on the season.

Freshman Paul Skenes came on for the ninth and earned his team and conference-leading seventh save of the year after going 1-2-3 with a K. The seven saves tied the freshman record at the Academy, and is tied for the fifth-most in a single season at AF. He has now not allowed an earned run in his last eight outings, totaling 11.2 innings, and lowered his ERA to a sterling 1.69.

Leading the offense was senior Christian Gambale, as he had a two-hit, two-RBI day with two doubles as well as a walk. Junior Alexander Pup added a two-run homer, his second HR of the season, while classmates Braydon Altorfer and Gabriel Garcia added two-hit days, Altorfer with a double, and each had an RBI.

The first two and a half innings went scoreless, as Byrnes only allowed a couple base runners on walks. AF got the bats going in the bottom of the third with some two out magic. Skenes ripped a two out double, and that was followed by back-to-back singles from senior Cole Blatchford and Garcia, the latter an RBI poke, to break the ice. The next batter, Gambale, doubled in the left center gap to plate a pair more and make it 3-0 after three.

Byrnes tossed a scoreless fourth, and AF kept the bats going in the bottom of the fourth as Pup parked a two-run homer off the scoreboard in left to up the lead to 5-0 into the fifth. Nevada tallied their first hit and run in the top of the fifth, as they plated a single unearned run, to cut the score to 5-1 with four innings to play.

The tall righty tossed another scoreless frame in the sixth to complete his second-straight outing with no earned runs allowed. Then junior CJ Dornak entered in the seventh and tossed a 1-2-3 inning to keep the four-run lead intact into the eighth.

Nevada battled back with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth to close the gap to 5-3, but AF got an insurance run back in the bottom of the eighth on an Altorfer sac fly to get the lead back to three into the ninth. In the ninth, Skenes went a perfect 1-2-3 with a K to lock down his seventh save and the 6-3 victory.

Game Two: Nevada 14, Air Force 7

AF was able to knock out 12 hits in the nightcap, including five players who tallied two hits. Garcia led the way with a triple and home run, as well as two RBIs. It was the fourth homer of his season. Junior Cayden Zimmerman, who entered as a pinch hitter, also had a pair of hits and RBIs, including an RBI double. Skenes also tallied a pair of singles to up his reached base streak to 18 games.

On the mound, sophomore Duke Benge had a solid outing in relief, going three innings and only allowing a run on two hits while striking out two. Senior Joe Martinez III also retired both batters he faced.

Following a scoreless first, Nevada struck first as they plated four runs in the second inning to leap ahead, 4-0, early on. AF got on the board in the bottom of the second, as Garcia led off with a solo blast to deep left field to make it a 4-1 game after two frames.

The Wolf Pack didn't let up in the third, as they plated a pair more to maintain a steady lead at 6-1. They tacked on another in the fourth as well to make it 7-1. In the bottom of the fourth, AF got a pair back on RBI singles from Gambale and Zimmerman to cut the deficit to 7-3 into the fifth.

Nevada exploded for six more runs in the top of the fifth to up their lead to 10, 13-3, at the midway point. AF got back on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth, striking for four runs. AF got an RBI single from senior Tommy Gillman, followed by an RBI double from Zimmerman to plate the first two. Later in the frame, a bases loaded walk drawn by Blatchford and a sac fly driven in by Garcia made it a 13-7 game into the seventh.

NV got yet another solo homer in the top of the seventh to put the deficit at seven into the eighth. From there, AF could not generate any more offense to seal the 14-7 defeat.

The Falcons and Wolf Pack will be back at it tomorrow, April 25, for the series finale. First pitch for the rubber match is set for noon MT.

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Team Stats

Gabriel Garcia

Christian Gambale

Braydon Altorfer

Paul Skenes

Players Mentioned

Braydon Altorfer

Duke Benge

Cole Blatchford

John Byrnes

CJ Dornak

Christian Gambale

Gabriel Garcia

Tommy Gillman

Joe Martinez III

Alexander Pup

Paul Skenes

Cayden Zimmerman

Players Mentioned

Braydon Altorfer

Duke Benge

Cole Blatchford

John Byrnes

CJ Dornak

Christian Gambale

Gabriel Garcia

Tommy Gillman

Joe Martinez III

Alexander Pup

Paul Skenes

Cayden Zimmerman

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