Falcons Rally but Fall Late to Northern Colorado

GREELEY, Colo., - The Falcons (16-25) rallied but dropped late in the game to Northern Colorado (14-24), 10-9, on Tuesday afternoon at Jackson Field. Across the game, Air Force marked eight hits, highlighted by Chase Spencer's pair of homers, and struck out six Bears.

Senior, Chase Spencer led at the plate with a season-high four RBIs and tied his career-high of two home runs in a single game, while scoring a trio of runs. Alex Adams went 1-for-3, scoring one run and accounting for two RBIs. Ben Niednagel and Van Klein recorded one RBI a piece.

On the mound, Easton Miller took the start and logged 1.1 innings pitched with one strikeout and four runs surrendered. Bowen Brantingham entered in relief, striking out a batter and giving up a pair of runs in 2.1 innings. The next reliever, Ethan Dillinger recorded two strikeouts and one earned run across 2.1 total innings pitched. Gaines Estridge (1-4) went 2.2 innings with three and two strikeouts.

Chase Spencer led off the top of the first inning and sent a shot over the left field fence after seeing three pitches to give Air Force an early 1-0 advantage.

The Bears responded in the bottom of the second to claim a 5-1 lead.

Following a scoreless third inning, UNC plated one to extend their lead, 6-1 in the bottom of four.

The top of the fifth inning saw Air Force cut the deficit in half to 6-3. To lead off, Christian Taylor recorded an infield single and was followed by a walked Luke Elmore. The bags were filled with Falcons after T.J. Oster drew a walk. After a Northern Colorado pitching change, Alex Adams logged a sacrifice fly that brought Taylor home. The catcher, Van Klein sent Oster across the plate with a sacrifice bunt.

UNC answered with an RBI single in the bottom of the same frame to lead 7-3.

The Birds fought to make it a one-run game, 7-6, in the top of the stretch. Elmore opened the inning with a single through the right side and advanced to second on an Oster ground out. A double from Adams sent Elmore around the bases to score. With two away, Spencer tallied his second homer of the afternoons to plate a pair of runs.

The Bears added one more run with an RBI single, 8-6, in the bottom of the eighth.

For the first time in the game, Air Force pulled ahead of UNC late in the top of the ninth inning, 9-8. The first two batters of the frame, Elmore and Oster were issued back-to-back walks. On a pair of wild pitches, Elmore was able to move around the bags, all the way home. With two outs, Spencer recorded his third hit of the day, an RBI single that plated Oster. Niednagel sent Spencer to the plate with the leading run on an RBI triple down the left field line.

In the bottom of the ninth, Northern Colorado notched a sacrifice fly to walk the game off, 10-9.

The Falcons return home for a Mountain West series hosting Nevada, from Friday April 25-Sunday April 27.

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