Falcons Drop Both Ends of Doubleheader at UNLV

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Air Force Academy baseball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader at UNLV, Saturday evening, May 1, at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.

AF got a pair of outstanding offensive performances on the day, as senior Cole Blatchford had six hits, including a double and two homers, while junior Gabriel Garcia had six hits as well, including a double, triple and home run.

Game One: UNLV 12, Air Force 9

In game one, AF's offense pounded out 13 hits, including a season-best tying four home runs. Blatchford tied his career-high with a four-hit day, including a solo homer, and two RBIs. Freshman Paul Skenes launched a two-run shot as part of a three-RBI day. It was his team-leading seventh HR of the season.

The other two homers came from Garcia and classmate Cayden Zimmerman, both solo shots, and both part of two-hit games. For Garcia it was his fifth homer of the season, while for Zimmerman it was the first long ball of his career. Finally, junior Braydon Altorfer had a two-double game, both RBI doubles. It was the fourth two-double game of his career, and he has a team-leading 13 on the season.

On the mound, senior Ben Hauser and freshman Doyle Gehring both fired a pair of innings each, and both only allowed a run each.

The Rebels struck first in game one as they plated three in the first, one unearned, to take an early 3-0 advantage. AF got one back in the top of the second as Altorfer doubled home a two-out walk to make it 3-1. UNLV got the run back immediately though in the bottom of the second to keep it a three-run game after two.

AF tallied another run in the top of the third as Skenes drove one in on a fielder's choice to keep it a tight game. UNLV responded with three more runs, another unearned, in the bottom of the third to open up a 7-2 game into the fourth. They tacked on another three-spot in the bottom of the fourth on a three-run homer to take a 10-2 lead into the fifth.

The Falcons rallied back in the top of the fifth with a five spot. Blatchford got it started with an RBI single, his third base hit of the day. After him, Skenes ripped a two-run homer, followed by a solo shot from Garcia to go back-to-back jacks, and make it 10-6. One batter later, Altorfer kept the line moving with his second RBI double of the game to get the deficit back to three, 10-7, at the midway point.

UNLV kept the offensive push in the bottom of the fifth, getting another run back to maintain the steady lead. After a scoreless sixth, the Falcons got the score back to a three-run game on a solo homer from Zimmerman, making it 11-8 with two frames to play. AF got its fourth homer of the day in the top of the eighth, as Blatchford parked a solo homer to right. His fourth hit of the day made it a two-run game.

The two-run deficit would not hold into the ninth, as UNLV smacked a solo homer to get the ever-steady three-run game back into the ninth. In the top of the ninth, AF got the tying run to the plate, but a slick play by the UNLV SS got the third out and ended the game with the 12-9 score.

Game Two: UNLV 11, Air Force 4

The offense tallied nine hits in game two, as a pair of Falcons remained red hot. Garcia led the way with four knocks to tie his career-best, including a double, triple, and an RBI. Blatchford added a pair of hits as well, a double and his second homer of the day. Skenes also singled to extend his reached base streak to 21-straight games.

The Rebels drew first blood in game two as well, getting a run in the first on a double play with the bases loaded. AF got a leadoff double from Garcia to start the second, but he was left stranded on third to keep it 1-0. UNLV then added a pair more in the bottom of the second to take a 3-0 lead into the third.

After a scoreless third, AF got the offense in gear in the fourth, tying the game at three on a solo homer from Blatchford, RBI triple from Garcia, and RBI single from senior Tommy Gillman to make it 3-3 in the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, UNLV plated an unearned run to re-take a slim lead, 4-3, into the fifth.

AF got a two out double from Blatchford in the top of the fifth, but he was stranded on second to keep it 4-3. UNLV then added onto their lead in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run homer to put the deficit back at three, 6-3. The Rebels then tacked on a three-spot in the bottom of the sixth to leap ahead by six, 9-3, with three innings to play.

The Falcons got one back in the top half of the seventh as sophomore Trayden Tamiya doubled, and was eventually driven in on an RBI ground out from sophomore Blake Covin to make it 9-4 into the stretch. UNLV answered right back with a run though to keep it a six-run game into the eighth. UNLV added on another in the bottom of the eighth and AF was kept off the board in the 11-4 final.

Game three of the series comes tomorrow with a noon MT first pitch.

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