Tuesday, February 18
Nashville, TN
12:00 pm MT
Air Force Academy
0-5
2
at
5
Vanderbilt
4-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Air Force
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
2
5
0
Vanderbilt
0
0
0
2
0
0
2
1
X
5
9
0
Falcons Topped by No. 15 Vanderbilt
2/18/2025 3:32:00 PM | Baseball
NASHVILLE, Tenn., - The Birds (0-5) battled but could not overcome No. 15 Vanderbilt (4-1), dropping the second game of the series, 5-2, on Tuesday afternoon. Air Force logged five hits, with a double and a home run. The pitchers combined for three strikeouts and allowed five runs off nine hits. Defensively, the field marked one double play.
The catcher, Walker Zapp, hit his first homer of the season to put the Falcons on the board, and finished batting 2-for-4. Zach Peters recorded the only other RBI for Air Force, with a sac bunt to level the score. Also going 2-for-4 was Christian Taylor, who notched his first hit of the season with a double.
Taking his first collegiate start on the mound was Easton Miller, who threw two strikeouts across four innings and allowed two runs. Cranz Smelcer (0-2) entered in relief but was credited as the losing pitcher for giving up two runs from a level score. Closer, Sam Hentges marked an outing of 1.2 innings with one strikeout and one run surrendered.
Miller went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first inning, utilizing his defense for a fly out and back-to-back ground outs.
In the bottom of the second, Miller struck out a pair of Commodores swinging and got out of the inning by combining with Cam Anstey at first to pick off a base runner.
Once again, Vanderbilt was first to break the goose eggs, going up 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth after the Falcons marked a double play in the books.
The Birds succeeded in a three up, three down bottom of inning five with a pair of ground outs and a fly out to right center field.
To put Air Force on the board as the lead off man in the top of six, Walker Zapp sent a long shot over the left field wall, his first of the season. With one out, Luke Elmore was issued a walk, with T.J. Oster right behind him. Both base runners advanced on a passed ball to put the pair in scoring position. With a clutch sacrifice bunt, Zach Peters squeezed Elmore across the plate, evening the score at 2-2.
The Commodores answered in the bottom of the seventh frame, retaking the lead at 4-2 after capitalizing on a sacrifice fly and a fielder's choice.
The bottom of eight saw a bunt single bring the final Vanderbilt run home, 5-2.
Up next, Air Force heads to Kinston, N.C. for a service academy face off against Navy in the Freedom Classic from Feb. 21-Feb.23 Game one is slated for Friday Feb. 21 with the first pitch at 2 p.m. ET/12 p.m. MT.
The catcher, Walker Zapp, hit his first homer of the season to put the Falcons on the board, and finished batting 2-for-4. Zach Peters recorded the only other RBI for Air Force, with a sac bunt to level the score. Also going 2-for-4 was Christian Taylor, who notched his first hit of the season with a double.
Taking his first collegiate start on the mound was Easton Miller, who threw two strikeouts across four innings and allowed two runs. Cranz Smelcer (0-2) entered in relief but was credited as the losing pitcher for giving up two runs from a level score. Closer, Sam Hentges marked an outing of 1.2 innings with one strikeout and one run surrendered.
Miller went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first inning, utilizing his defense for a fly out and back-to-back ground outs.
In the bottom of the second, Miller struck out a pair of Commodores swinging and got out of the inning by combining with Cam Anstey at first to pick off a base runner.
Once again, Vanderbilt was first to break the goose eggs, going up 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth after the Falcons marked a double play in the books.
The Birds succeeded in a three up, three down bottom of inning five with a pair of ground outs and a fly out to right center field.
To put Air Force on the board as the lead off man in the top of six, Walker Zapp sent a long shot over the left field wall, his first of the season. With one out, Luke Elmore was issued a walk, with T.J. Oster right behind him. Both base runners advanced on a passed ball to put the pair in scoring position. With a clutch sacrifice bunt, Zach Peters squeezed Elmore across the plate, evening the score at 2-2.
The Commodores answered in the bottom of the seventh frame, retaking the lead at 4-2 after capitalizing on a sacrifice fly and a fielder's choice.
The bottom of eight saw a bunt single bring the final Vanderbilt run home, 5-2.
Up next, Air Force heads to Kinston, N.C. for a service academy face off against Navy in the Freedom Classic from Feb. 21-Feb.23 Game one is slated for Friday Feb. 21 with the first pitch at 2 p.m. ET/12 p.m. MT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Jakob Schulz (1-0)
L: Smelcer, Cranz (0-2)
S: Ryan Ginther (1)
Batting:
2B: Taylor, Christian 1
HR: Zapp, Walker 1
RBI: Zapp, Walker 1 ; Peters, Zach 1
SH: Peters, Zach 1 ; Anstey, Cam 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Zapp, Walker 1 ; Elmore, Luke 1
SB: Adams, Alex 1
Batting:
2B: Chris Maldonado 1
3B: RJ Austin 1 ; Jacob Humphrey 1
RBI: Riley Nelson 1 ; Chris Maldonado 1 ; Jacob Humphrey 2 ; Jonathan Vastine 1
SH: Jonathan Vastine 1
SF: Jonathan Vastine 1
Base Running:
RUNS: RJ Austin 1 ; Mac Rose 1 ; Rustan Rigdon 1 ; JD Rogers 1 ; Jacob Humphrey 1
SB: Rustan Rigdon 1
CS: RJ Hamilton 1
PO: Mac Rose 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
4
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
UT
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
UT/RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
UT
/ Baseball
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