Friday, April 29
USAFA
3:00 pm MT
Air Force Academy
20-22, 0
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UNLV
29-14, 0
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8
9
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UNLV
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Air Force Academy
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25
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Photo by: Josh Armstrong
Falcons run away from Rebels in 20-3 win
4/29/2022 9:04:00 PM | Baseball
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.- Behind the right arm of Paul Skenes and a frenzied Falcons offense, Air Force pulled away from Mountain West leader UNLV in Friday's 20-3 win.
Sam Kulasingam was a perfect 5-5 on the afternoon, reaching base in all six of his plate appearances. The sophomore managed two doubles, three singles, and 2 RBI to extend his hitting streak to 17-consecutive games, and his on-base streak to 29 games. Following Friday's action, Kulasingam is now hitting .406 with a 1.120 OPS.
Aerik Joe was also flawless in his five at-bats, knocking five hits, including his first-career home run and triple. The Falcons shortstop also drove in three runs, resetting his career-high in the category.
Freshman Chase Spencer totaled 11 bases as part of a 3-5 day, clubbing two opposite-field home runs as well as a two-run triple. Spencer's 6 RBI become a new career-high for the C4C.
Jake Greiving, Braydon Altorfer, and Jay Thomason each managed 3 RBI, as all three players also recorded at least two hits.
Paul Skenes won his sixth-consecutive decision en route to collecting his 7th win of 2022. Skenes fought through 6.0 innings, allowing just one unearned run while striking out eight Rebels and walking just two. Skenes now holds a 2.59 ERA over 55.2 innings pitched.
The combination of Kyle Moats, CJ Dornak, and Nathan Price held UNLV to just two runs over three innings out of the pen, with Moats and Price tossing scoreless frames.
The Rebels were the first side to break into the run column in the 3rd, as a two-out fly ball to left field was dropped by Spencer, allowing a run to cross. Trailing 1-0, Spencer didn't hesitate to seek redemption, slugging a two-run homer over the high right field fence to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead.
Later in the inning, Greiving lined a RBI single into right field, putting the Falcons up 3-1. A Kulasingam run-scoring single an inning later grew the Air Force lead to 4-1.
In the 5th, Air Force erupted. With one out, Greiving reached on a throwing error by the shortstop, and was promptly moved to third following an Altorfer double down the left field line. With two runners in scoring position, Thomason launched a pop-up that was carried into the heavy Falcon Field winds, a ball that wound up falling in safely to bring home Greiving.
With the score at 5-1, Air Force saw nine-consecutive batters reach following the Thomason single, leading to eight more runs. The Falcons led 13-1 going into the 6th inning.
The Rebels put a scare into the Falcons dugout to start the 6th after three-consecutive batters reached, loading the bases. Even so, Skenes induced a swinging strikeout, a line out to left field, and an inning-ending whiff, as the Air Force starter left the mound pumping his fist.
In the bottom half of the inning, Joe led off the frame with his first collegiate dinger, while the inning was punctuated by Altorfer's bases-clearing double. Air Force carried a 17-1 lead after six innings.
In the 7th, Spencer tripled home two more runs before a Kulasingam infield hit allowed Spencer to come home, with the score then 20-1.
UNLV scratched across two runs in the 8th, but Price recorded a strikeout and two ground outs to end the ballgame.
Air Force's 25 hits are the most in a Mountain West game in program history, while the Falcons 20 runs are the fourth-most in a single Mountain West Conference game since 2000. Over the past eight games, the Falcons are averaging 14.9 runs per game.
Game Two between Air Force and UNLV is scheduled for Saturday, April 30, with first-pitch slated for 12 pm MT.
Sam Kulasingam was a perfect 5-5 on the afternoon, reaching base in all six of his plate appearances. The sophomore managed two doubles, three singles, and 2 RBI to extend his hitting streak to 17-consecutive games, and his on-base streak to 29 games. Following Friday's action, Kulasingam is now hitting .406 with a 1.120 OPS.
Aerik Joe was also flawless in his five at-bats, knocking five hits, including his first-career home run and triple. The Falcons shortstop also drove in three runs, resetting his career-high in the category.
Freshman Chase Spencer totaled 11 bases as part of a 3-5 day, clubbing two opposite-field home runs as well as a two-run triple. Spencer's 6 RBI become a new career-high for the C4C.
Jake Greiving, Braydon Altorfer, and Jay Thomason each managed 3 RBI, as all three players also recorded at least two hits.
Paul Skenes won his sixth-consecutive decision en route to collecting his 7th win of 2022. Skenes fought through 6.0 innings, allowing just one unearned run while striking out eight Rebels and walking just two. Skenes now holds a 2.59 ERA over 55.2 innings pitched.
The combination of Kyle Moats, CJ Dornak, and Nathan Price held UNLV to just two runs over three innings out of the pen, with Moats and Price tossing scoreless frames.
The Rebels were the first side to break into the run column in the 3rd, as a two-out fly ball to left field was dropped by Spencer, allowing a run to cross. Trailing 1-0, Spencer didn't hesitate to seek redemption, slugging a two-run homer over the high right field fence to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead.
Later in the inning, Greiving lined a RBI single into right field, putting the Falcons up 3-1. A Kulasingam run-scoring single an inning later grew the Air Force lead to 4-1.
In the 5th, Air Force erupted. With one out, Greiving reached on a throwing error by the shortstop, and was promptly moved to third following an Altorfer double down the left field line. With two runners in scoring position, Thomason launched a pop-up that was carried into the heavy Falcon Field winds, a ball that wound up falling in safely to bring home Greiving.
With the score at 5-1, Air Force saw nine-consecutive batters reach following the Thomason single, leading to eight more runs. The Falcons led 13-1 going into the 6th inning.
The Rebels put a scare into the Falcons dugout to start the 6th after three-consecutive batters reached, loading the bases. Even so, Skenes induced a swinging strikeout, a line out to left field, and an inning-ending whiff, as the Air Force starter left the mound pumping his fist.
In the bottom half of the inning, Joe led off the frame with his first collegiate dinger, while the inning was punctuated by Altorfer's bases-clearing double. Air Force carried a 17-1 lead after six innings.
In the 7th, Spencer tripled home two more runs before a Kulasingam infield hit allowed Spencer to come home, with the score then 20-1.
UNLV scratched across two runs in the 8th, but Price recorded a strikeout and two ground outs to end the ballgame.
Air Force's 25 hits are the most in a Mountain West game in program history, while the Falcons 20 runs are the fourth-most in a single Mountain West Conference game since 2000. Over the past eight games, the Falcons are averaging 14.9 runs per game.
Game Two between Air Force and UNLV is scheduled for Saturday, April 30, with first-pitch slated for 12 pm MT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Skenes, Paul (7-2)
L: Sharman,J (3-3)
Batting:
2B: Williams,E 1
RBI: Panaro,S 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Kryszczuk,A 1 ; Sharman,Ja 1 ; Williams,E 1
Batting:
2B: Kulasingam, Sam 2 ; Altorfer, Braydon 2 ; Booker, Jason 1
3B: Joe, Aerik 1 ; Spencer, Chase 1
HR: Joe, Aerik 1 ; Spencer, Chase 2
RBI: Kulasingam, Sam 2 ; Greiving, Jake 3 ; Altorfer, Braydon 3 ; Thomason, Jay 3 ; Joe, Aerik 3 ; Spencer, Chase 6
Base Running:
RUNS: Kulasingam, Sam 3 ; Covin, Blake 1 ; Garcia, Gabriel 2 ; Greiving, Jake 3 ; Altorfer, Braydon 1 ; Tamiya, Trayden 3 ; Joe, Aerik 4 ; Spencer, Chase 3
HBP: Kulasingam, Sam 1 ; Garcia, Gabriel 1
PO: Thomason, Jay 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
5
R
3
H
5
RBI
2
AB
6
R
3
H
3
RBI
3
AB
5
R
3
H
3
RBI
6
Players Mentioned
C
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballIF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
C/RHP
/ BaseballIF/RHP
/ Baseball
IF
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