Feb. 9, 2007
Complete Series Notes in PDF Format
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Northern Colorado (2-1) vs. Air Force (1-1)
Dates: Feb. 10-11 - Sat. Feb. 10 DH beginning at 11 a.m. (7/9); Sun. Feb. 11 beginning at noon.
Site: Falcon Field - USAFA
Live Stats: None
The Coaches:
Mike Hutcheon is 26-132 in his 4th year at Air Force and 265-267 in his 13th year as a head coach.
Kevin Smallcomb is 108-109 in his 5th year at UNC and 358-256 in his 16th year as a head coach.
Series History: UNC leads 82-48
Pitching Probables W-L ERA G-GS IP K BB
2/10 UNC Eric Maydew - Sr. RHP 1-0 0.00 1-1 5.0 4 1
G1 AFA Mitch Brown - Sr. RHP 0-0 0.00 1-0 1.0 1 0
2/10 UNC Chris Reap - Jr. RHP 0-0 3.60 1-1 5.0 6 2
G2 AFA Jake Petro - So. RHP 1-0 0.00 1-1 2.0 3 0
2/11 UNC Jason Banks - Jr. RHP 0-0 4.50 1-1 4.0 4 5
AFA Brent Whiteman - Fr. RHP 0-0 45.00 1-1 1.0 0 2
Falcons To Host Northern Colorado In Three Game Set
Air Force and Northern Colorado, the two lone Div. I baseball programs in Colorado, square off for a three game series this weekend, Feb. 10-11. Due to unplayable conditions in Greeley, all three games have been moved to the Academy and will be played at Falcon Field.
Schedule Change For UNC Series
The Falcons and Bears will now play a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10 and a single game beginning at noon Sunday, Feb. 11. The series was originally slated to be played, Fri.-Sat., Feb. 9-11 in Greeley.
The Last Time Out
Air Force split its doubleheader with York College on Wednesday. The Falcons won game one, 4-2, but dropped the second game, 10-9.
The 2007 Falcons
Air Force returns 10 letter winners, including five starters off the 2006 squad. The Falcons welcome 19 newcomers to the team, nine of whom are pitchers.
The 2006 Falcons
Air Force went 10-38 in 2006 and 1-21 in Mountain West Conference play, finishing seventh in the conference. The team's leading hitter was team MVP Karl Bolt, who led the team in nearly every statistical category, batting .314 with nine home runs and 30 RBI. AFA's top pitcher was Mitch Brown. Brown led the team in nearly every pitching category, going 3-10 with 51 strikeouts in 71.2 innings and posted a 5.65 earned run average.
Scouting Northern Colorado
- UNC enters the weekend with a 2-1 record.
- The Bears took two of three last weekend at New Mexico State.
- UNC's top returning hitter is sophomore first baseman Kevin Sandberg, who batted .315 with 28 runs and 24 RBI in 2006.
- The Bears' top returning pitcher is senior Tyler Pearson, who went 3-3 with 64 strikeouts in 57.2 innings pitched and posted at 5.15 ERA in 2006.
Series History vs. UNC
- UNC leads the all-time series with AFA 82-48.
- The two teams played five times in 2006 with UNC taking four of the games.
- In the first game between the two schools in 2006, the Falcons hit eight UNC batters, tying a MWC record.
Offense Notes
• Air Force hit a blistering .393 against York.
• The 14 hits in game two of the DH tied the season-high for most hits in a season for 2006.
• Karl Bolt had a monster second game, going 3-for-5 with a homer, two doubles, three runs and five RBI.
• Matt Alexander leads the team with an .800 batting average after going 4-for-5 with doubles vs. York.
• Spencer Tate had three base hits in his collegiate debut.
• Jason Griggs is 3-for-3 to start the season.
• The Falcons hit seven doubles in the second game vs. York.
Pitching Notes
• Air Force had a 7.71 ERA vs. York.
• The Falcons struck out 10 in game one vs. York.
• AFA used five rookie pitchers against York.
• David Miller picked up the save in his first appearance.
Defensive Notes
• Air Force's committed just one error in 61 chances for a solid .984 fielding percentage. The lone error came on an overthrow of second base on a stolen base attempt.
• Catcher Josh Meents threw out two of five base runners on steal attempts, good for a 40% thrown-out percentage.
Additional Notes
• The Falcons started five freshmen in both games vs. York.
• The Falcons batted five left-handed hitters in a row in their lineup in game one of the DH and had four in the lineup in game two.
Recapping the York Doubleheader
In the first game, five Falcon pitchers combined to hold the Panthers to two runs and seven hits while striking out 10. Jake Petro earned the win with two predetermined innings pitched in the start. Mitch Brown and Juan Perez both tossed scoreless innings and Alex Truesdale allowed one in two innings of relief. David Miller picked up the save in the seventh.
Freshmen Spencer Tate and Matt Alexander had spectacular debuts. Tate went 3-for-3 with a run and RBI and Alexander went 2-for-2 with a run and RBI in the first game.
Geno Salazar scored the first two runs of the game for the Falcons, scoring on a bases loaded walk to Alexander in the first and on an RBI-single by Ben Ausbun in the third.
Ahead 2-1 in the sixth, the Falcons added two insurance runs to make it a 4-1 game. Tate singled in Alexander and later scored on Jason Griggs' pinch-hit double.
Game two was a wild see-saw affair that saw the Falcons erase a 6-0 deficit, only to give the game away with two runs in the seventh.
York scored a run in the first, four in the second and one more in the third to jump ahead 6-0 after the top of the third. The Falcons rallied with five in the bottom of the inning, highlighted by a monster three-run home run to left by Karl Bolt, to pull to within one.
After the Cougars pushed across a run in the top of the fourth, the Falcons responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning to go ahead 8-7. Bolt ripped a two-run double off the fence in center and then scored on Ausbun's sacrifice fly.
York and AFA traded runs in the sixth to make it a 9-8 game.
The Panthers then tied the game in the seventh on a successful squeeze bunt with the bases loaded. York then went ahead on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch.
Air Force had 14 hits in game two. Bolt led the way going 3-for-5 with two doubles, a homer and five RBI. Salazar, Griggs, Meents and Alexander also had two hits with Alexander smacking two doubles.
Peterson took the loss in game two. Starter Gary Whiteman struggled in his debut, allowing five runs on three hits in one inning of work. Daniel Richardson, Casey Allen and Michael Ruvolo also saw action in relief.
Thirteen Falcon freshmen made their debut in the doubleheader.
Falcons Tabbed 7th in MWC Preseason Poll
The Air Force Falcon baseball team was tabbed to finish seventh in the Mountain West Conference as voted by the seven head coaches and select media. TCU, the defending conference champion, was selected to finish first, followed by San Diego State in second and BYU in third. UNLV followed up in fourth, New Mexico in fifth and Utah in sixth.
Up Next
The Falcons play host to Kansas Wesleyan next weekend, Feb. 16-18, in a four-game series at Falcon Field.
Season Standing Notes
• Bolt Brothers Battle In Millington - When Air Force takes on Navy at the Service Academies Springs Classic at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn., brothers Karl and Kendall Bolt will face each other for the first time. Karl, a senior outfielder at Air Force and Kendall, a freshman shortstop at Navy, are both products of Lincoln HS in Stockton, Calif.
• Falcon Brotherhood - Falcon sophomore right-hander Jake Petro is the second Petro to play for the Falcons. Older brother, Dan Petro, played for the Falcons from 2000-03 and was an all-conference catcher in `03.
• Falcon Brotherhood part II - Brent and Gary Whiteman are the latest brother combo to play for Air Force. The last Falcon brother duo to play for Air Force were Derck and Dale Kasel in 2003. Both brothers enter the Academy as freshmen but Gary will be a sophomore in terms of eligibility after playing his freshman year at Scottsdale Community College in Arizona in 2005.
• Closing in on 500 - The Falcons are five wins away from 500 wins all-time at Falcon Field. Air Force is 495-369 all-time at Falcon Field.
• Finally, some lefties - After several years of just having one or two left-handers on the team, Air Force features eight players that can either hit or throw from the left side. Five batters and three pitchers hit and throw from the odd side and will give Mike Hutcheon some strategic possibilities.
