Wednesday, March 5
Fort Worth, TX
2 pm MT
Air Force Academy
4-9
1
at
11
Texas Christian University
9-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Air Force
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
2
TCU
2
4
2
0
0
2
1
11
13
0
Falcons Fall Short to TCU
3/5/2025 5:16:00 PM | Baseball
FORT WORTH, TX., - Falcon baseball (4-9) fell short to TCU (9-4), 11-1, in game two of the midweek series at Lupton Stadium, on Wednesday afternoon. Air Force tallied three hits and one RBI, while striking out six Horned Frogs.
The left fielder, Christian Taylor, went 1-for-3 and accounted for the lone RBI with a single to right. T.J. Oster and Walker Zapp both finished with one hit, as well.
Pitching wise, Gaines Estridge (0-2) took a hometown start, allowing four earned runs off six hits in one inning. John Mitchell entered for one frame, marking a strikeout and two runs allowed. Across 2.0 innings, Patrick Davidson defended the Falcons with a strikeout and did not give up a run or a hit. Cranz Smelcer recorded a new career-high four strikeouts but allowed two earned runs off two hits, in 2.0 innings pitched. The closer, Davis Rhyne marked the last out and gave up the final run.
Air Force hopped on the board, 1-0, in the top of the first. To lead off, Alex Adams drew a walk but was thrown out on a fielder's choice that enabled Ben Niednagel to reach. Walker Zapp advanced the runner on a single, and Christian Taylor followed with an RBI single, sending Niednagel to the plate.
In the bottom of one, TCU pulled ahead, 2-1.
The Falcons saw T.J. Oster reach base on a single to right field, but could not bring him around the bags in the top of two.
The Horned Frogs extended their lead in the bottom of the second, 6-1.
With back-to-back RBI singles, Texas Christian put two more on the board, 8-1, in the bottom of the third frame. Patrick Davidson entered with no outs and runners on the corners, and defended from the mound with a strikeout, a caught base runner, and a ground out to close the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Cranz Smelcer logged a three up, three down frame with a trio of strikeouts.
TCU plated two runs off an RBI double in the bottom of six.
To seal the score at 11-1 in the bottom of the seventh, the Horned Frogs marked an RBI single.
Air Force heads west to face California Baptist in a three-game series in Riverside, Calif. Game one is slated for Friday March 7, at 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT.
The left fielder, Christian Taylor, went 1-for-3 and accounted for the lone RBI with a single to right. T.J. Oster and Walker Zapp both finished with one hit, as well.
Pitching wise, Gaines Estridge (0-2) took a hometown start, allowing four earned runs off six hits in one inning. John Mitchell entered for one frame, marking a strikeout and two runs allowed. Across 2.0 innings, Patrick Davidson defended the Falcons with a strikeout and did not give up a run or a hit. Cranz Smelcer recorded a new career-high four strikeouts but allowed two earned runs off two hits, in 2.0 innings pitched. The closer, Davis Rhyne marked the last out and gave up the final run.
Air Force hopped on the board, 1-0, in the top of the first. To lead off, Alex Adams drew a walk but was thrown out on a fielder's choice that enabled Ben Niednagel to reach. Walker Zapp advanced the runner on a single, and Christian Taylor followed with an RBI single, sending Niednagel to the plate.
In the bottom of one, TCU pulled ahead, 2-1.
The Falcons saw T.J. Oster reach base on a single to right field, but could not bring him around the bags in the top of two.
The Horned Frogs extended their lead in the bottom of the second, 6-1.
With back-to-back RBI singles, Texas Christian put two more on the board, 8-1, in the bottom of the third frame. Patrick Davidson entered with no outs and runners on the corners, and defended from the mound with a strikeout, a caught base runner, and a ground out to close the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Cranz Smelcer logged a three up, three down frame with a trio of strikeouts.
TCU plated two runs off an RBI double in the bottom of six.
To seal the score at 11-1 in the bottom of the seventh, the Horned Frogs marked an RBI single.
Air Force heads west to face California Baptist in a three-game series in Riverside, Calif. Game one is slated for Friday March 7, at 6 p.m. PT/7 p.m. MT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: James (2-0)
L: Estridge, Gaines (0-2)
Batting:
RBI: Taylor, Christian 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Niednagel, Ben 1
Batting:
2B: Brunson 1 ; Silva 1 ; Franco 1 ; Strosnider 1
RBI: Myers 1 ; Cramer 1 ; Brunson 1 ; Silva 2 ; Franco 1 ; Strosnider 3
SF: Brunson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Myers 2 ; Cadena 1 ; Cramer 1 ; Brunson 1 ; Bell 1 ; Silva 2 ; Franco 1 ; Strosnider 2
SB: Cramer 1
CS: Strosnider 1
HBP: Myers 1 ; Silva 2
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
IF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
UT
/ Baseball
C
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