Air Force Academy
11-15
Abilene Christian University
15-13
Falcons cruise to 9-4 win over Wildcats
4/5/2022 9:17:00 PM | Baseball
Paul Skenes paced the Air Force offense, ending his evening 3-4 with 3 RBI. The sophomore rocketed his third home run of the season, a two-run blast in the 3rd and his first home run since February 19. Since returning to the lineup after battling a minor injury, Skenes is now 6-13 over his last three games.
Jay Thomason and Aerik Joe both finished with two hits, as the left side of the Falcons infield also managed to drive in a run each.
Joe bounced a RBI infield single off of the pitcher's leg in the 5th while Thomason lined a RBI single off of the right field wall as part of a four-run 6th for Air Force.
After a slow start to his 2022 season, Joe now has at least one hit in 12 of his last 15 games. Meanwhile, Thomason is now 19-42 (.452) over his last 10 games.
In his first start of 2022 and only the second of his Air Force career, Jake Sansing gave the Falcons five solid innings. The junior allowed just two runs on four hits, four walks, and four strikeouts.
Three of Sansing's four punchouts came in the 2nd, where he kept the game from turning against the visitors. After three-consecutive Wildcats reached to open the inning allowing a run to score, Sansing proceeded to strikeout the side to limit the damage.
Dylan Rogers made the 10th appearance of his freshman season and stymied Abilene Christian for much of his three innings. Rogers didn't allow a run over his nine outs, surrendering just three hits while striking out a career-best five hitters.
Air Force ran away from ACU in the 6th, as the Falcons four-run frame seemingly put the game out of reach.
Leading 5-1, Air Force began the inning with a baserunner as Aaron Reyes was hit by a pitch. The next batter, Blake Covin, drew a four-pitch walk to put Falcons on first and second with none out.
Sam Kulasingam reached on an error, one of three Wildcat errors on the night, allowing Reyes to score and extending the Air Force lead to 6-1.
After a fly out from Gabriel Garcia, Skenes plated his third RBI of the game with a sac fly to right field, a play made close at the plate, but the speed of Covin saw Air Force go up 7-1.
Following Skenes, Jake Greiving sent an opposite-field double off of the left field wall to add another Falcons run. Thomason punctuated the top of the 6th with a blistering single to right field, as Air Force took a 9-1 lead into the bottom half of the inning.
The Wildcats scored once in the 6th and twice in the 9th, though the Falcons lead was too much to overcome.
Game Two between Air Force and Abilene Christian is scheduled for 2:00 pm MT on Wednesday, April 6.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sansing, Jake (2-1)
L: Garrett Egli (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Covin, Blake 1 ; Greiving, Jake 1 ; Thomason, Jay 1
HR: Skenes, Paul 1
RBI: Covin, Blake 1 ; Skenes, Paul 3 ; Greiving, Jake 1 ; Thomason, Jay 1 ; Joe, Aerik 1
SF: Skenes, Paul 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Covin, Blake 2 ; Kulasingam, Sam 1 ; Garcia, Gabriel 1 ; Skenes, Paul 2 ; Greiving, Jake 1 ; Joe, Aerik 1 ; Reyes, Aaron 1
HBP: Covin, Blake 1 ; Greiving, Jake 1 ; Booker, Jason 1 ; Joe, Aerik 1 ; Reyes, Aaron 1
Batting:
2B: Randle, Bash 1 ; Miller Ladusau 1
HR: Grayson Tatrow 1
RBI: Grayson Tatrow 2 ; Miller Ladusau 1 ; Bryson Hill 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mitchell Dickson 1 ; Grayson Tatrow 2 ; Randle, Bash 1
SB: Mitchell Dickson 1
CS: Hammit, Brett 1
HBP: Bryson Hill 1
PO: Grayson Tatrow 1
