Air Force has hearts broken in 9th as Arizona walks it off in rubber game

TUCSON- Owning a one-run lead in the 9th, Air Force saw the Wildcats plate the tying and winning runs in the final inning, as the Falcons hopes of a series win on the road at Arizona were dashed in the 11-10 loss.

In what turned into a slugfest, the Falcons provided plenty of reason why. Sam Kulasingam continues to get on-base at a ridiculous rate, as his run of games reaching base has now touched 45 games. Kulasingam was 2-4 with a stolen base, clubbing his fifth home run of the spring. His three-run, go-ahead shot to left field saw the Falcons lead 6-3 in the 4th.

Jay Thomason had his most productive set of at-bats in the series finale, stroking two doubles and two RBI as part of a 3-5 day. Thomason now has 15 doubles to go with his 17 home runs.

After Jake Greiving exited the game prior to his first at-bat due to illness, Charlie Jones was placed in the cleanup hole as the designated hitter. Shaking off a pair of strikeouts in his first two at-bats, Jones provided a RBI base-hit to close a five-run Air Force 4th inning.

Aerik Joe managed a double to extend his on-base streak to 24-consecutive games. Since March 28, Joe's OPS has risen from .620 up to .738. One of Air Force's most impactful players of the weekend, Chase Spencer was 1-2 with three walks and a stolen base, closing the three-game set with a pair of assists from the outfield as well.

Each of Air Force's nine starters managed at least one hit.

Dylan Rogers toughed out 5.0 innings, fighting through some tough batted ball luck to allow 12 hits and six earned runs. Nine of the 12 hits on Rogers' ledger were ground ball base-hits.

Leading 10-6 entering the bottom of the 6th, the Falcons weren't quite able to put the Wildcats away.

Seungmin Shim was brought into the ballgame to start the 6th, though the lefty allowed two hits, walked two and plunked a batter while recording just one out. Duke Benge did well to limit Arizona to just a run in his 1.2 IP, inducing a 9-4-6 double play to end the 6th.

Ben Weber tossed a scoreless 8th before running into trouble an inning later.

The C4C began the 9th with a foul out to Thomason, though back-to-back doubles saw the tying run cross the plate. Following an intentional walk and an infield single, the Wildcats were able to send a sacrifice fly just deep enough in left field to see the winning run cross the plate.

Next, Air Force will return home for Senior Weekend when the Falcons host San Diego State, the current top-seed in the Mountain West standings. The series is slated to begin Friday, May 12.

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