Air Force falls in thriller, drops series to Nevada

COLORADO SPRINGS- After the Falcons erased a five-run deficit to tie the ballgame in the 9th, a three-run Nevada outburst in the 10th proved to be the knockout punch, as Air Force was defeated 11-8 in Monday's rubber game.

The first four in the Air Force lineup each provided two hits while driving in six of the Falcons eight runs. Sam Kulasingam closed the day 2-5, including two extra-base hits. The Air Force third baseman doubled in the 3rd before slugging his fourth home run of the spring in the 5th, a two-run blast. Kulasingam, who carried a .200 batting average as of March 8, is now hitting .306. He's managed at least one hit in each of the last 14 games.

Jay Thomason was also 2-5, blasting his 15th home run of the season in the 7th. His 15 home runs remain atop the Mountain West, as his 52 career home runs places him just two shy of tying BYU's Sean McNaughton's Mountain West career home run record of 54 set in 2010. Thomason also singled in the 9th and scored as part of the Falcons two-run rally.

In the 2nd, Charlie Jones lined a deep flyball to straightaway center field, as the ball bounded away from the leaping Nevada centerfielder. Jones would eventually race home to finish off the inside-the-park home run, his fourth home run of the year. Jones also brought home Thomason in the 9th with a double down the left field line to create an 8-7 score before scoring the game-tying run. Jones finished the afternoon 2-4 with a stolen base.

Chase Spencer collected two doubles as part of a 2-5 day, scoring once and walking once.

Tripp Garrish picked up a base-hit and was responsible for producing the game-tying sacrifice fly in the 9th. Aerik Joe managed a double while Walker Zapp added a hit to his weekend of work.

Ben Weber made his 11th start of the spring, and was on his game early. The sophomore opened his day with a perfect 1st before posting another zero in the 2nd. Weber did allow a two-out RBI double in the 3rd, but was otherwise efficient. He began the 4th with a pair of groundouts, though the momentum he built on the mound came to a screeching halt. With two outs and nobody on base, Weber allowed a solo home run to see Nevada take a 2-1 lead. After the home run, Weber surrendered consecutive walks and a base-hit, moving the deficit to 3-1. After building an 0-2 count to the following hitter, Weber saw a three-run home run leave the left field fence, as Nevada had suddenly overtaken the scoreboard to the tune of a 6-1 lead. Weber was relieved after 3.2 innings.

Doyle Gehring would eventually strike out the first batter he faced to end the 4th, though Air Force trailed by five.The usual Air Force closer did well to keep his team within striking distance, as the Falcons scored twice in the 5th and 7th.

Trailing 8-5 in the 8th, Landon Boyd entered as a pinch-hitter with Joe on second, who doubled to lead off the frame. Boyd lifted a sacrifice fly to left field to trim the deficit to 8-6. Gehring, with a little bit of help, kept Nevada off the scoreboard in the 9th, as the Falcons trailed by two runs going into bottom half of the inning.

Kulasingam initiated the 9th with a lineout to center, but a Thomason single and Jones' RBI double placed the tying run at second with one away. Jones would later reach third after a wild pitch.

After Zach Peters walked, Garrish came to the plate with runners at the corners. Seeing the second pitch of the at-bat, Garrish floated a soft pop-up behind third base, where the Nevada shortstop made a tremendous sliding grab. However, Jones made the heads-up decision to take off from third, beating the throw home to tie the game at 8-8. The game would soon go to extra-innings.

Gehring, with 5.1 innings already under his belt, gave up a single, a walk, and a two-run double to immediately sway the advantage back to the visitors side at 10-8 in the 10th. Sam Hentges retired three of the four hitters he faced in the inning, but a Wolf Pack sacrifice fly extended the Air Force deficit to 11-8 with three outs to work with. Spencer doubled with two outs in the bottom of the 10th, but another potential Falcons rally ended there.

The loss moves Air Force to 11-10 in Mountain West play, bumping the Falcons from second to third in the conference standings. The loss also creates Air Force's first home series defeat of 2024.

Next, Air Force will close its regular season series against the San Jose State Spartans, as the two sides will meet at Erdle Field for a three-game set starting Friday, May 3.

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.