Air Force Academy
UNLV
Baseball Looks Towards Home Opener and MW Play, Hosting UNLV and St.Thomas
3/12/2026 3:35:00 PM | Baseball
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo., - Air Force baseball (3-11) returns to Erdle Field and looks to begin Mountain West play with their home opener series against UNLV (13-5) at Erdle Field with a single game on Friday March 13 and a doubleheader on Saturday March 14. The Falcons will open the next week hosting Monday matchup against St. Thomas (3-13).
SCHEDULE
Friday March 13 vs. UNLV | 2 p.m. MT | Erdle Field
Saturday March 14 vs. UNLV | 11 a.m. MT | Erdle Field (DH)
vs. UNLV | 3 p.m. MT | Erdle Field (DH)
Monday March 16 vs. St. Thomas | 1 p.m. MT | Erdle Field
MEDIA
Watch – Mountain West Network
Live Stats – StatBroadcast
Twitter - @AF_baseball
BASE ACCESS
New this year: Passes will now be issued monthly instead of requiring a separate submission for each event. This means ticket holders only need to complete the form once per month to gain access to all events during that time. Ticket holders can request a base pass using this link.
After registering, you will receive a message on our phone to present at the gate when entering the Academy. Fans must also present their game tickets at each venue. All tickets and credentialed attendees can enter through the North or South gate. North gate is recommended for access to athletic fields; while fans are encouraged to use the North and South gates for football games.
Note: When completing the information from the link, please use the information directly from your driver's license (Robert vs. Bob). Your ID must also be REAL ID compliant. Anyone under 18 will not be required to do a QR code.
PROBABLE STARTERS (OPS)
- L/L Tripp Garrish, DH (.693)
- R/R Walker Zapp, C (.861)
- S/R Landon Boyd, 3B (.966)
- S/R Wyatt Hanoian, 2B (.766)
- R/R Luke Elmore, 1B (.673)
- L/R J.D. Wolff, LF (.619)
- L/R Ben Niednagel, SS (.844)
- R/R Kayden Bradshaw, CF (.780)
- R/R Blake Campbell, RF (.852)
PITCHING MATCHUP (ERA)
Friday | LHP Josh Holst (4.11) vs. RHP Carson Lane (10.06)
Saturday | RHP Gaines Estridge (5.40) vs. LHP Parker Dillhoff (5.21)
Saturday | RHP Bowen Brantingham (7.71) vs. RHP Felix Ong (7.85)
Monday | TBD vs. TBD
AIR FORCE IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST
Team
Batting - 6th (.254)
Pitching - 8th (6.77)
Fielding - 6th (.967)
Individual
RBIs - 4th Walker Zapp (17)
Hit by Pitch - 3rd Wyatt Hanoian (6)
- 6th Kayden Bradshaw (6)
Sacrifice Bunts - 1st Ben Niednagel (4)
Stolen Bases - 1st Ben Niednagel (7)
- 5th Walker Zapp (4)
- 5th Kayden Bradshaw (4)
- 5th Tripp Garrish (4)
ERA - 5th Marcus Downing (1.54)
B/AVG - 4th Gunner Gilmore (.125)
IP - 1st Gaines Estridge (23.1)
Strikeouts Looking - 3rd Bowen Brantingham (6)
- 7th Ethan Dillinger (4)
Putouts - 10th Luke Elmore (91)
Assists - 6th Ben Niednagel (34)
Runners Caught Stealing - 1st Walker Zapp (7)
- 6th Bowen Brantingham (2)
- 6th Van Klein (2)
SENIOR SPOTLIGHT
C1C Ben Niednagel was named to the 2026 Brooks Wallace Award Watchlist, highlighting the top 100 shortstops across the nation. Through the opening stretch of the season, Niednagel has emerged as a key contributor for the Falcons, delivering both at the plate and in the field. The senior ranks second on the team in batting average at .319 and owns a .426 slugging percentage, highlighted by two doubles, one home run, and seven stolen bases.
Lockdown defense has defined Niednagel's play at shortstop. Starting all 14 games, the Santa Clarita, Calif., native has been perfect in the field, posting a team-best 1.000 fielding percentage among starters. He's recorded 23 putouts, 34 assists, and turned four double plays without an error to anchor the infield with reliability.
KB
Sophomore Kayden Bradshaw has earned the starting spot in 12 games of 14 he has played this season and been a leader for the team. The outfielder posts a team-best batting average of .326 with 11 runs scored, 14 hits, and 10 RBIs while stealing four bases.
ON THE MOUND
Air Force returns a steady pitching staff, looking for their experience to help out on the mound.
RHP Gaines Estridge has been a solid starter for AFA, recording 20 Ks and spending the most amount of time on the mound for any MW pitcher (23.1 IP) and holds a 5.40 ERA. He posted a pair of career outings in his first two outings of the season. In the opening 15-3 win over Penn State, the righty threw four strikeouts and allowed no runs in six innings. He came back stronger against Navy and despite earning the loss, Estridge recorded a couple of career highs with seven innings on the bump and ten strikeouts. Against ORU, Estridge struck out one batter in 5.1 IP and at Baylor he threw five innings with five strikeouts.
Freshman starter Josh Holst currently holds the lowest Falcon ERA of 4.11 with 15.1 innings under his belt. In his collegiate debut against Iowa, he took a standout start, allowing just one run and striking out five batters in 5.1 innings. Against Army, the lefty allowed a pair of earned runs with four Ks in 4.1 IP. He went four innings against DBU with one strikeout an 1.1 innings with two Ks at Baylor, before the game was suspended for rain.
Sunday starter Bowen Brantingham has made four appearances with a pair of starts. At DBU, he struck out four batters in four innings. He took his second start at Baylor, matching his season-high 4.1 IP with four Ks and three runs allowed. Across 14 total IP this season, the righty has 14 strikeouts and allowed 12 runs.
Reliever Patrick Davidson led the team in wins (5) and saves (3) in 2025 and will be looked to for some swings and misses. In his first appearance of 2026, the righty closed against Kansas State with a three up, three down frame.
LHP Sam Hentges brings experience from the bullpen and made his season appearance with a pair of strikeouts in one inning. He holds an ERA of 0.00 after two appearances for 2.1 IP.
Reliever Marcus Downing has logged 11.2 innings on the mound with eight Ks and allowing just two runs for the MW's fifth-best ERA of 1.54.
FRESHMEN FIGHT
The Falcons welcome 15 newcomers to the team heading into the 2026 season. Unlike many other baseball programs, Air Force cannot participate in the transfer portal or NIL, thus the newest Birds are all true freshman.
Among the new guys, there are three outfielders, two infielders, one catcher, five RHPs, three RHPs, and one of both a utility player and catcher.
Other freshmen pitchers who made their debuts in Arizona were Trey Rutledge and Aiden Poe.
RHP Jordan Watkins is expected to be a strong addition to the pitching staff. His fastball and change up will leave a batter waiting as he throws for straight Ks.
At the plate, Wyatt Hanoian sits at .267 with seven runs, 12 hits, and 10 RBIs under his belt. In the second matchup with DBU, he recorded three hits and batted in four runs.
A LOOK AT UNLV
The Rebels are coming off a 11-10 win over UC Riverside with a season record of 13-5. UNLV kicked off March at the Cambria Classic, defeating Southern Illionis (16-8) and Northwestern (10-5) but falling to Minnesota (10-0) in seven innings. UNLV has totaled 172 runs so far and are led offensively by Drew Barragan who has batted in 28 runs with a .448 BA. On the mound, the Rebels pitching staff has struck out 191 batters and allowed 115 runs for a team ERA of 5.96.
A LOOK AT ST. THOMAS
The Tommies sit at 3-13 overall and will kick off Summit League play at Northern Colorado before heading to Colorado Springs. They picked up wins over Abileine Christian (11-10), Lindenwood (8-2), and Kansas (13-2). St. Thomas has totaled 72 runs so far and are led offensively by Tanner Recchio who has batted in 10 runs with a .344 BA. On the mound, the Tommies pitching staff has struck out 114 batters and allowed 108 runs for a team ERA of 6.44.
