Air Force splits doubleheader, claims series against New Mexico

COLORADO SPRINGS- After Saturday's cold and precipitation created Sunday's doubleheader, Air Force was outslugged by New Mexico in Game One before erasing a six-run deficit in Game Two to claim the series win.

GAME ONE (New Mexico 12, Air Force 1)
Air Force was largely shutdown by the New Mexico pitching staff, while conversely the Falcon arms struggled to put away hitters, as the Lobos took the Falcons to task in the 12-1 loss.

Sam Kulasingam was 2-4 with a double, as his on-base streak stands at 37-consecutive games. Kulasingam drove in the Falcons lone run of the game with a RBI two-bagger in the 8th.

Chase Spencer was the only other Air Force player with multiple hits, also going 2-4.

Jay Thomason, Trayden Tamiya, Aerik Joe,Chris Stallings, and Blake Covin each managed base-hits.

Doyle Gehring looked poised to have a strong day after the first two innings, but in the 3rd, the gears loosened. After retiring the leadoff batter, Gehring surrendered a walk and consecutive base-hits before a three-run home run saw the Lobos jump out to a 6-0 lead.

Gehring's line finalized after 3.0 IP, allowing six runs (five earned) with five hits, two walks and two strikeouts.

Ben Weber entered in the 4th and did well to gut out 5.0 innings in order to save the Falcons bullpen from overtaxing. Weber allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits with one walk and a strikeout.

Joey Collier tossed the 9th, allowing just one hit with a strikeout.

GAME TWO (New Mexico 8, Air Force 13)
Trailing 7-1 into the 3rd, the Falcons managed 12 unanswered runs to complete the comeback bid and secure the series win, besting the Lobos 13-8.

Chase Spencer was 3-4 with a triple to finish the doubleheader with five hits in eight at-bats, driving in three runs in Game Two. Jake Greiving also had 3 RBI, going 2-4 with a double. Aerik Joe also had three hits in four at-bats, including a double.

Trayden Tamiya provided the go-ahead home run in the 7th, knocking his second long ball of the spring to give Air Force a 8-7 lead.

Sam Kulasingam was 2-5 with two walks, as his on-base streak stays alive at 38 games. Kulasingam poked his fourth home run of the spring the 1st to give the Falcons an early 1-0 lead.

Jake Greiving carried his momentum from earlier in the day into the series finale, going 2-4 with a double and 3 RBI.

Jay Thomason drove in a run with a base-hit in the 7th as well.

Dylan Rogers surrendered a pair of home runs to account for six of his seven runs allowed, as the sophomore was relieved by Seungmin Shim in the 4th.

Shim was excellent en route to picking up his fourth win of the spring. The southpaw entered with his team facing a 7-2 deficit and didn't give up a run over his 4.0 IP. Shim issued just three hits with four strikeouts.

With Air Force trailing 7-3 in the 6th, Air Force took advantage of two Lobos errors to trim the lead to 7-6 before a seven-run 7th saw the hosts jump out to a 13-7 advantage.

Sawyer Hawks was called upon in the 8th, and after allowing a leadoff homer to the first batter he faced, the sophomore went on to strikeout five of the next seven Lobos to step into the box.

Air Force is now 11-10 in conference play, good for fourth in the Mountain West standings.

Next, the Falcons remain at home to play San Jose State for a three-game series starting Friday, April 28.

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