Falcons wrap up series sweep with 14-4 triumph

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.- Trailing 4-2 entering the 7th, the Falcons rallied for 12 runs in their final two turns at-bat to claim the series sweep over UNLV, taking Game Three 14-4.

"What a big weekend for our club," said head coach Mike Kazlausky. "With where we're at in the standings, we need as many wins as we can get in order to book a trip to San Diego for the conference tournament. To do what we did against a quality team like UNLV says a lot about our cadets.

"Like Yogi Berra said, we'll take it with a grin of salt and keep pushing forward."

Sam Kulasingam was 2-4 on Sunday, managing a solo home run and a triple with 1 RBI. Kulasingam now owns a 19-game hitting streak and a 31-game on-base streak while concluding a five-game stretch in which Kulasingam was 16-25 with nine extra-base hits.

Blake Covin and Trayden Tamiya each recorded a game-high 3 RBI, with both juniors knocking two hits. Braydon Altorfer launched his 8th home run of the spring in 7th, tying the game at 4-4. Altorfer is now 18-44 (.409) over his last 11 games, with four home runs in that span.

Making his second start of his freshman season, Dylan Rogers gave Air Force 5.1 quality innings against the nation's top hitting team. Rogers induced 10 ground ball outs while allowing just three earned runs with eight hits, two walks, and two strikeouts.

Kyle Moats made his second appearance of the series and was vital in keeping the Falcons in striking distance. Moats scattered two hits over 3.2 scoreless innings, notching three strikeouts. Moats hasn't allowed a run over his last four appearances, a stretch that includes 8.2 innings.

Sunday's ballgame evolved into a pitcher's dual though the first six innings, with Air Force trailing 4-2 after the first two-thirds of the game. In need of an offensive rally, the Falcons delivered.

After Jay Thomason led off the 7th inning with a base on balls, Altorfer vaporized a 3-2 slider over the fence in left-center, tying the game at 4-4. Tamiya, Aerik Joe and Jake Greiving then followed Altorfer with consecutive walks, loading the bases for Covin. The Air Force center fielder lined a two-run single towards his UNLV counterpart in the outfield to give the Falcons a 6-4 lead.

Gabriel Garcia added on to the lead, rocketing a hard grounder off of the third baseman's glove to score another run. A Paul Skenes sac fly and a Tamiya two-run single abruptly saw Air Force jump out to a 10-4 lead.

In the 8th, Garcia smashed a two-run double into the left-center field gap while Thomason and Tamiya provided insurance runs later in the inning, both knocking RBI base-hits.

Leading 14-4, Moats locked down the win with a 1-2-3 9th.

The 2022 season marks the second-consecutive spring the Falcons have swept the Rebels at Falcon Field, having done so a season ago. The Falcons outscored the Rebels 51-17 in the three games, and are averaging exactly 15 runs per game over the last 10 games.

Next, Air Force will conclude its non-conference schedule with a quick one-game visit from Oral Roberts on Monday, May 2.

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