Falcons Post 10-4 Wednesday Win over Northern Colorado

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Northern Colo.	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	4	7	1
Air Force	4	3	0	0	2	1	0	0	X	10	13	0

Northern Colo.

Air Force

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo., - In their second meeting of the season, the Falcons (12-18) defeated Northern Colorado (6-28), 10-4, on Wednesday afternoon at Erdle Field. Air Force batters totaled 13 hits and the pitching staff struck out nine Bears.

Tripp Garrish led at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a trio of both RBIs and runs scored, along with two stolen bases. Freshman Garrett Hutchins marked four RBIs off two hits while Ben Niednagel and Luke Elmore accounted for one RBI apiece.

In his second start of the season, Cranz Smelcer (1-0) picked up his first win of 2026 after throwing three innings with just one hit and run allowed. Gunner Gilmore followed with two strikeouts and one run in two full innings of work. Freshman Trey Rutledge logged one scoreless frame before Davis Rhyne made a one-out appearance. Easton Miller struck out a pair of batters and gave up one run in one inning. To close, Charlie Russell struck out the side in the top of the ninth.

The Birds jumped on the board with an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. The second batter of the frame, Niednagel sent his second long shot of the year 400 feet over the right field wall. Back-to-back hits from Wyatt Hanoian and Walker Zapp put runners on the corners. Garrish followed with a single to plate Hanoian and went on to steal second. After Zapp was thrown out on a double steal attempt, Elmore walked and a Hutchins double sent to the left field wall scored two runs.

Northern Colorado plated one run in the top of the second, 4-1.

In the bottom of the second inning, Air Force tacked on three runs, extending into a 7-1 advantage. With the first pair of batters out, Niednagel, Hanoian, and Zapp were all issued free passes to juice the bases. After a Northern Colorado pitching change, Garrish recorded an infield single, beating out the throw at first to keep the inning alive and send two home. Zapp went on to plate the last run of the frame on a wild pitch.

The Bears added one run but still trailed 7-2, in the top of five.

The bottom of the fifth saw the Falcons score a pair of runs off three hits, 9-2. To open the inning, Garrish led off with a single and went to third on an Elmore double. Both runners scored when Hutchins marked his first career triple.

AF plated their last run of the afternoon, 10-2, in the bottom of the sixth. The right fielder, Garrish logged a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and was sent across the plate by Elmore with a sacrifice fly.

In the top of the seventh and eighth, Northern Colorado added one run for a final score of 10-4.

The Falcons will host Fresno State in a Mountain West series at Erdle Field from April 10-12.

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