AF Battles to Walk Off Game One Against Army, 9-8

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo., - The Falcons (3-6) tack one on in the win column after battling with Army (1-6) through 11 innings before closing the night in walk-off fashion, 9-8. Air Force knocked season-highs of 14 hits and four doubles across the game for 9 RBIs. The pitchers combined for a season-best 14 strikeouts and allowed eight runs off six hits.

"We have the utmost respect for our brothers in arms as today was a heavyweight fight with both teams landing blows," expressed head coach Mike Kazlausky.

The catcher, Walker Zapp finished 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and scored the final run. Christian Taylor, Zach Peters, and T.J. Oster secured two RBIs each, with Taylor earning one RBI for his walk-off single.

On the mound, Dylan Rogers started his third game of the season, throwing four strikeouts across four full innings, but allowing four runs. Easton Miller entered for 1.0 inning and struck out one Black Knight in addition to giving up three earned runs. Joey Collier held Army at bay and pitched 2.0 innings with a career high trio of strikeouts and no hits or runs surrendered. Following Collier, Davis Rhyne pitched in a similar manner, allowing no runs or hits with two strikeouts in 1.1 innings. To earn the second win of his career, Patrick Davidson (2-0) threw the last 2.2 innings, giving up no runs or hits to the Black Knights, along with a career-high four strikeouts.

Air Force was ready to play and scored first for a 3-0 lead in the bottom of one. To open the game, Alex Adams singled to centerfield and advanced to third on an error that allowed Ben Niednagel to reach base. With runners on the corners, Walker Zapp marked a sacrifice fly to send Adams across the plate. Trip Garrish drew a walk and the following batter, Zach Peters, doubled to right center for both base runners to go home.

The top of the first two innings were three up, three down for Dylan Rogers.

In the bottom of the second frame, the Falcons tacked on one run, 4-0. With two down, Adams was hit by a pitch and proceeded to steal second. Niednagel sent him to third with a single to right field. Coming in clutch once again, Zapp put a single up the middle to score Adams.

Army answered in the top of the next inning, putting their first run on the board with a sacrifice fly, 4-1.

The top of four saw the Black Knights cut the Falcon lead in half, 4-2, with an RBI ground out.

To shift the momentum for an 8-4 advantage, Army scored six runs in the top of the fifth inning.

Air Force responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of six, trimming the deficit to 8-6. Peters recorded another hit, singling through the left side to put a runner on for the Falcons. With two outs, Cam Anstey singled and T.J. Oster came in behind with a two RBI double, plating both base runners.

To make it a one-run game, AF added one for a score of 8-7. Garrish hit a double to the left center gap and took third on a wild pitch. A sacrifice foul out by Christian Taylor was sufficient to send Garrish home.

After scoreless eighth, ninth, and tenth innings, the Falcons brought the power to walk it off in the bottom of the 11^th inning. Leading off was Zapp, who placed a double down the left line. Garrish was hit by a pitch to bring up Taylor. With two strikes, Taylor marked a hit to left field, enabling Zapp to score the winning run, 9-8.

Kazlausky commented, "We will fight again tomorrow between the white lines, but when the game is over, we are brothers and back on "America's Team!"

Air Force will face Army in game two of the weekend series on Saturday, March 1 at 1 p.m.

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