Falcons Fall to the Spartans in Game Two of Series

SAN JOSE, Calif., - Air Force (7-15, 2-3) fell short, 14-3, to San Jose State (14-5, 3-2) on Saturday afternoon at Excite Ballpark. The Falcon batters tallied seven hits while the pitchers struck out four Spartans.

Senior, Zach Peters, went 2-for-3 at the plate, marking a double and one run scored. Christian Taylor also batted 2-for-3 with a double. Ben Niednagel finished 2-for-2 and plated one run. Luke Elmore and Walker Zapp were the only two Falcons to record RBIs.

On the mound, Easton Miller (0-4) claimed the start, going 1.1 innings with two earned runs off six hits allowed. The first reliever, Gaines Estridge went a team-high two full innings and gave up one earned run, eight runs total, and seven hits with a trio of strikeouts. Joey Collier entered and allowed no runs, just one hit, and struck out one batter across one inning pitched. To close, Marcus Downing threw one inning with no runs or hits allowed.

The Spartans scored first to lead 4-0, putting up four runs in the bottom of one.

In the bottom of the next frame, San Jose State scored three runs off four hits, 7-0.

SJSU saw a five-run third inning, stretching into a 12-0 advantage.

For their final run, San Jose State put two across the plate for a score of 14-0 in the bottom of the fourth frame.

The Falcons plated their first run, but were still behind 14-1, in the top of five. To lead off, Peters singled to center field and Niednagel put him on third with a double to left. Luke Elmore entered as a pinch hitter and fulfilled his duties with an RBI ground out that enabled Peters to score.

In the bottom of the same frame, AF held the Spartans with a double play and a fly out to Peters in right field.

Downing went three up, three down as he utilized his defense for a pair of ground outs to T.J. Oster and a pop up to Landon Boyd at first base, in the bottom of the sixth.

To trim the deficit to 14-3, Air Force scored a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning. The second batter of the frame, Boyd drew a walk and advanced to second on a single by Niednagel. Both base runners moved up one base on a wild pitch by San Jose State. A Dawson Thrush single enabled Boyd to cross the plate. With two outs, Taylor walked to load the bases. Zapp walked Niednagel home to score the final AF run.

Air Force will face San Jose State in the series finale on Sunday March 23 at 12 p.m. PT /1 p.m. MT.

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