Jones homers twice, Air Force opens series with 8-5 win

COLORADO SPRINGS- Air Force triumphed in Friday's back-and-forth ballgame, as Charlie Jones produced two home runs to help guide the Falcons to an 8-5 win over the Spartans.

Friday marks Jones' first-career multi-home run game, as both of his hits resulted in two-run dingers. The sophomore homered in the 1st to give Air Force an initial lead before replicating the feat in the 7th to break a 5-5 tie.

Though not qualified, Jones' .362 batting average and .452 on-base percentage would lead all Air Force players.

Jay Thomason led all Falcons in hits on Friday, going 3-5 with two doubles and two RBIs. Both of Thomason's doubles brought in runs in the 3rd and 5th innings, as the senior standout is now slugging .705.

Zach Peters clutched up with an RBI double in the 4th inning, closing the day 1-3 with a walk.

Sam Kulasingam was 1-5 with a double, pushing him to 75 career doubles. He now sits just a pair of two-baggers shy of tying Garrett Custon's program record of 77 set in 2010.

Chase Spencer was 2-5, while Walker Zapp and Aerik Joe each provided hits.

Jake Greiving, who had been out of the lineup due to injury since April 21, was 2-4 with a pair of singles.

In his 12th start of the year, Seungmin Shim was as important as ever on Friday. In spite of the five runs allowed, the southpaw picked up nine strikeouts over 7.0 innings, picking up at least 21 outs for the seventh time this season.

After Jones' second home run of the day put Air Force ahead 7-5, Doyle Gehring entered in the 8th and was as effective as ever.

The Air Force closer allowed just one hit over his 2.0 innings, picking up three strikeouts en route to his seventh save. Gehring's seven saves are now a new single season career high.

Next, the Falcons and Spartans will resume the series on Saturday, May 4, with the first pitch scheduled for 1:00 pm MT.

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