Home Runs Doom Falcons in Series Finale Defeat to Nevada

USAFA, Colo. – The Air Force Academy baseball team was plagued by the long ball in a 7-4 defeat to Nevada in the series finale, Sunday afternoon, April 25, at Falcon Field. AF allowed five homers, while leaving eight runners on base.

The Falcon offense tallied seven hits on the day, including two homers of their own. Senior Cole Blatchford had a two-run shot, his third homer of the season and eighth of his career, while freshman Sam Kulasingam tallied a solo homer, his second on the year. Freshman Paul Skenes added a two-double day, and in the process extended his reached base streak to 19 in a row.

On the mound, AF got solid relief from a trio of arms. Junior Zach Argo tossed two frames, and allowed just one unearned run while striking out one. Fellow junior Rob Martin went 2.1 innings, allowing just one run as well while striking out a pair. Finally, senior Ben Hauser had a 1-2-3 ninth inning, while striking out two.

Nevada was the first to strike, as the leadoff batter launched a homer to deep left center to make it 1-0. In the second, they tallied another solo homer to take a 2-0 advantage in the second. They added two more long balls in the third, one a two-run job, to put the deficit at 5-0 in the middle of the third.

AF got into the homer party in the bottom of the third, as Blatchford lifted a two-run blast over the tall wall in right to cut the score to 5-2 into the fourth.

After a scoreless fourth, Nevada got one back in the fifth on a passed ball, but AF responded immediately in the bottom of the fifth with a sac fly from junior Braydon Altorfer to keep the deficit at three, 6-3, with four innings to play.

Argo and Martin combined to hold Nevada off the board in the sixth and seventh, but AF could not cut into the deficit, keeping it a three-run game into the eighth. Nevada added to its lead in the top of the eighth with yet another solo homer to make it 7-4 with two more trips up to the plate.

AF went 1-2-3 in the eighth, but got one back in the bottom of the ninth on a solo homer from Kulasingam. Despite getting back to within three, The Wolf Pack closed out the 7-4 final.

The Falcons will be back in action next Saturday-Sunday, May 1-2, with a three-game series at UNLV.

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