Air Force Academy
17-20, 0
Fresno State
19-19, 0
Falcons blitz Bulldogs 21-5 in series opener
4/22/2022 3:44:00 PM | Baseball
"It was tough conditions for both teams with extreme winds, but we were fortunate to score more runs than Fresno State," said head coach Mike Kazlausky. "We received a quality start from Cadet Skenes and were able to put runs on the board."
The runs came in bunches, as each Falcon in the starting lineup recorded a hit for the third-consecutive game.
Friday afternoon turned into a big one for Braydon Altorfer, as the senior finished 4-5 with 4 RBI, falling a triple short of the cycle. The Air Force catcher launched his sixth home run of the season in the 3rd, a two-run blast. Altorfer now has two home runs in his last three games, and is now 9-17 (.529) over his last four games. Sam Kulasingam also had four hits in six at-bats with 2 RBI, extending his on-base streak to 24-consecutive games.
Jake Greiving, Blake Covin, and Trayden Tamiya each homered as well, as the Falcons have now slugged 12 home runs over the last three games. Gabriel Garcia ended his afternoon 2-4 with 3 runs scored and a run batted in, as the senior now owns a 19-game hitting streak. Jay Thomason finished the day 3-5 with 4 RBI, including two doubles.
Paul Skenes didn't have his usual command on the mound but was still a force. Skenes won his fifth-consecutive decision, pitching six innings while allowing three runs on four hits, four walks and three strikeouts. Spanning his last five starts, Skenes owns a 1.84 ERA with a 8.3 K/9.
Air Force jumped out to an early lead, with Garcia and Thomason opening the 1st inning with RBI doubles. Thomason also scored after an error in right field, leading to a sudden 4-0 advantage.
Fresno State knocked home runs in the 2nd and 3rd to cut the lead to 4-3, but it was all Air Force from then on. Altorfer and Tamiya both sent long balls over the fence in the 3rd before Covin hit his first home run of the spring in the 4th. In addition, an Altorfer RBI single and Thomason sac fly in the 4th saw the Falcons leading 11-3 entering the 5th. Remarkably, Air Force scored 16 unanswered runs between the 3rd and the 7th innings to build a 20-3 lead. Following a Bulldogs run in the 8th, Greiving launched his fourth home run in four games, a solo shot over the batter's eye in center field to create a 21-4 score.
Fresno State pushed a run across in the final inning, but Jimmy Hebenstreit limited the damage in his lone inning of work to close out the ballgame.
Game Two between Air Force and Fresno State will take place Saturday, April 23, with first-pitch scheduled for 2:00 pm MT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Skenes, Paul (6-2)
L: DIXON, J. (1-4)
Batting:
HR: LUNA, I. 1 ; BOLOGNA, V. 1
RBI: DAVIS, T. 1 ; LUNA, I. 2 ; BOLOGNA, V. 1 ; ALLEN, P. 1
Base Running:
RUNS: MORGAN, Z. 1 ; LUNA, I. 1 ; GROTTO, M. 1 ; BOLOGNA, V. 1 ; WINK, B. 1
Batting:
2B: Kulasingam, Sam 1 ; Covin, Blake 1 ; Garcia, Gabriel 2 ; Altorfer, Braydon 2 ; Thomason, Jay 2 ; Spencer, Chase 1
HR: Covin, Blake 1 ; Greiving, Jake 1 ; Altorfer, Braydon 1 ; Tamiya, Trayden 1
RBI: Kulasingam, Sam 2 ; Covin, Blake 3 ; Garcia, Gabriel 1 ; Greiving, Jake 1 ; Altorfer, Braydon 4 ; Thomason, Jay 4 ; Tamiya, Trayden 2 ; Joe, Aerik 2 ; Spencer, Chase 1
SF: Thomason, Jay 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kulasingam, Sam 2 ; Covin, Blake 1 ; Garcia, Gabriel 3 ; Greiving, Jake 4 ; Altorfer, Braydon 3 ; Thomason, Jay 3 ; Tamiya, Trayden 1 ; Joe, Aerik 2 ; Spencer, Chase 2
HBP: Greiving, Jake 2
