March 31, 2004
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
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Game 1: Fri. April 2 - Utah vs. Air Force - 2 p.m. (MST)
Game 2: Sat. April 3 - Utah vs. Air Force - 1 p.m.
Game 3: Sun. April 4 - Utah vs. Air Force - noon.
The Records: Air Force (5-25, 0-6 MWC), Utah (5-16, 1-5)
Site: Falcon Field, USAFA, Colo.
Radio: KBZC 1300 AM (Saturday game only)
Livestats: Available for all three games. Click on selected game on Air Force baseball schedule page
Air Force Baseball Plays Host To Utah In MWC Conference Games
The Air Force baseball team (5-24, 0-6 MWC) returns home after a 12 game road swing, playing host to Utah (5-16, 1-5) in a three game Mountain West Conference series at Falcon Field. The Falcons are looking to snap a 11 game losing streak and win their first conference game.
Saturday Game To Be Broadcast On Radio
The Air Force baseball team will have its first home radio broadcast of the season this Saturday, April 3, against Utah. The game can also be heard on the internet and telephone. The games will be broadcast live in Colorado Springs on KBZC AM 1300. Jay Ritchie, in his seventh season of Air Force baseball, will do the play-by-play. Dave Toller will handle the color commentary. The pregame show begins 20 minutes before the first pitch. The Air Force-Utah game can also be heard anywhere via telephone or internet. Falcon baseball radio broadcasts can be heard on TeamLine by dialing 1-800-846-4700. The team access code is 0671. This service is free of charge to listeners thanks to the Air Force Academy athletic department. Baseball games can also be listened to on the internet at www.AirForceSports.com. Go to the baseball page and click on Listen to the Falcons on the right side of the screen. The rest of the 2004 broadcast schedule is currently being worked on and will be released upon finalization.
Hutcheon At The Helm
Mike Hutcheon begins his first year as the head coach of the Falcons. Hutcheon spent the last four years at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Ind. and compiled a record of 130-78 during his tenure there. In 2002, Hutcheon was named National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association (NCCAA) National Coach of the year after leading Bethel to the 2002 NCCAA national title. Prior to his stay at Bethel, Hutcheon coached at Belhaven College in Jackson, Miss., for five seasons where he went 109-62. In his tenth season as a head coach, Hutcheon has compiled a 244-164 record.
The Last Time Out
The Air Force baseball team dropped its lost its 10th and 11th straight games getting swept in a Tuesday doubleheader at Northern Colorado. UNC rallied from a 6-4 deficit to take game one, 11-6 and won the second game, 15-3. The Falcons endured a tough month of March, where they went 1-19.
Notes From The UNC Doubleheader
Freshman Billy Adams made his collegiate debut in a substitution role at second base in game two vs. UNC... Freshman Jonathan Stralka earned his first career start in the second game vs. UNC in right field... The Falcons have gone six straight games without getting 10 hits in a game.
Falcons To Play Colorado Springs Sky Sox In Exhibition Game Next Week
The Air Force baseball team will play an exhibition game against the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, the Triple A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, Tuesday, April 6 at 3:35 p.m. in Sky Sox Stadium. The exhibition game will be part of the Sky Sox' media day. A pre-game press conference will be held at 11:30 at the Hall of Fame Bar and Grill at Sky Sox Stadium. Both new coaches, Sky Sox manager Marv Foley and Falcon skipper Mike Hutcheon, will speak about their respective ball clubs and about the game. There will be no charge for tickets or parking. Gates will open at 3 p.m.
The Falcons and Sky Sox will play for the fourth straight year. The two teams have met four times and the Sky Sox have won all four contests: 1989, 2001, 2002 and 2003. In exhibition games against professional teams, the 1971 Air Force team played the St. Louis Cardinals and tied the big-league club, 3-3, at Falcon Field. The Cardinals' team featured Lou Brock, Joe Torre and Felipe Alou. The 1992 AFA team played the Albuquerque Dukes, the Triple A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, in Vero Beach, Fla. The Dukes won 6-0 and no-hit the Falcons.
Scouting Utah
Utah (5-16, 1-5 MWC) currently sits in fifth place in the conference and is led by Tim Esmay, in his ninth year at the helm for the Utes. Utah, who played a MWC record 17-inning game last Saturday against BYU, was swept by the Cougars last weekend. The Utes are batting .267 as a team, led by junior outfielder Matt Ciaramella, who leads the team with a .333 average and 16 runs scored. Utah has a 6.47 staff earned run average, led by junior RHP Clay Westmorland, who is 1-2 (4.50) with a pair of saves and 26 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched.
AFA-Utah Series History
Air Force and Utah have played each other 112 times with the Utes having won 76 of those... Last year, AFA went 1-6 against Utah in seven meetings... The two teams first played each other 25 years ago on March 26, 1979, as the Falcons trounced the Utes, 19-4, in Salt Lake City... Air Force is 7-19 against Utah since Mountain West Conference play began in 2000 and 4-7 at Falcon Field.
Falcon-Ute Connections
There are no Falcons from the state of Utah... AFA catcher Josh Oakley and Utah LHP Eric Schaler hail from Littleton, Colo.... Shaler and Oakley were teammates for three years at Mullen HS (Schaler played senior season at Cherry Creek HS)... AFA infielder Geno Salazar and Utah infielder Tyler Kmetko both played at Brophy Prep HS in Phoenix, Arizona (Salazar played senior season at Mountain Ridge HS).
The Series At-A-Glance
Overall: Utah leads, 76-36
Current Streak: Utah, 1 game
First Meeting: March 26, 1979 (Air Force, 19-4)
Last Meeting: May 22, 2003 (Utah,7-6, at MWC tourney)
Most Air Force runs: 22 on April 18, 1987 (22-23)
Most Utah runs: 30, on May 3, 1985 (30-13
Biggest win by Air Force: 15 on March 26, 1979 (19-4)
Biggest win by Utah: 21 on April 17, 1981 (23-2)
Air Force-Utah: The Last Meeting
The Utes rallied to beat the Falcons 7-6 to eliminate Air Force from the 2003 Mountain West Conference Tournament, Thursday, May 22, at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, N.M. Trailing 6-4, Utah tied the game with a pair of runs in the seventh inning and then scored the game-winning run in the ninth on Cort Wilson's walk-off single that scored Marr Ciaramella. Clayton Couch started the game for the Falcons, allowing four runs in 6.2 innings pitched. Losing pitcher was Paul Vignola.
Hitting Notes:
Dale Kasel hit his first career home run to lead-off the second inning in game one vs. UNC... Reid Lamson connected for his first-career homer, a three-run shot with two outs in the fourth inning of game one vs. UNC.
Pitching Notes:
Travis Fugler made his first pitching debut in his start against UNC in game two of the Tuesday doubleheader... Jackson Edwards made his first-career start in game one vs. UNC... The Falcons have not had a starter pitch five or more innings in their last 12 games.
Hitting By Grade
Here is the offensive breakdown on how the Falcons are hitting based on grade.
Grade At bats Hits Average R 2B 3B HR RBI
Seniors: 120 41 .342 16 8 1 2 30
Juniors: 432 128 .296 82 27 1 6 53
Soph's: 171 42 .246 33 7 1 2 26
Freshmen: 204 59 .289 34 10 3 1 28
Pitching By Grade
Here is the pitching breakdown on how the Falcons are faring based on grade.
Grade App. Starts IP K's W-L
Seniors: 6 0 9.2 7 0-0
Juniors: 8 6 24.2 14 1-4
Soph's: 43 16 100.2 69 3-11
Freshman: 45 7 87.2 75 1-10
DeRohan Earns MWC Player of the Week Honors
Air Force junior shortstop Nathan DeRohan was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week on Feb. 9, for his performance against New Mexico State, Feb. 7-8, in Las Cruces, N.M. DeRohan, from Waukegan, Wis. (Waukegan HS), was 5-for-14 (.347) with a pair of doubles, a home run and five RBI in a three-game series vs. New Mexico State. He was 2-for-4 with two RBI on Feb. 7, and nearly hit for the cycle the next day, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a double off the fence, a home run and three RBI.
What's Next
Four the fourth consecutive year, the Falcons will take on the Colorado Sky Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, in an exhibition game on Tuesday, April 6, at 3:35 p.m. at Sky Sox Stadium. lowing the exhibition game, the Falcons host Mountain West Conference foe San Diego State, Thursday-Saturday, April 8-10, at Falcon Field. The first pitch is at noon on Thursday, 2 p.m. on Friday and at noon on Saturday.
Fledgling Falcons
Air Force welcomes 21 newcomers to the varsity team, including a freshmen class of 16.
The list of 21 new Falcons include:
RHP - #12 Aaron Timmermann (Midland, Texas.) C/IF - #25 Billy Adams (Wadsworth, Ohio)
RHP - #14 Ryan Shaub (Coral Springs, Fla.) C - #26 Jon Polston (Indianapolis, Ind.)
RHP - #20 Tyson Graham (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) C - #30 Josh Oakley (Littleton, Colo.)
LHP - #21 Jackson Edwards (Mandeville, La.) IF - #2 Geno Salazar (Glendale, Ariz.)
RHP - #22 J.T. Schroeder (Melbourne, Fla.) IF - #13 Karl Bolt (Stockton, Calif.)
RHP - #28 Kyle DePierre (El Dorado, Calif.) IF - #40 Jonathan Stralka (Anchorage, Alaska)
LHP - #29 Nathan Lowry (Tracy, Calif.) OF - #6 Josh Wolfram (Walla Walla, Wash.)
RHP - #31 John Meyers (Hot Springs, Ark.) OF - #35 Zach Reimer (Fort Worth, Texas)
RHP - #32 William Goss (Marietta, Ga.) OF - #42 Danny Kimmich (San Diego, Calif.)
RHP - #37 Mitch Brown (Semmes, Ala.) OF - #44 Matt Musser (Madison, Wisc.)
LHP - #39 Blake Nixon (Wichita Falls, Texas)
Miscellaneous Falcon Facts
* Sophomore Jason Brown (varsity wide receiver) and freshman Jon Polston (junior varsity quarterback) also play for the Air Force football team. Freshman Danny Kimmich (water polo) and sophomore Jackson Ranes (fencing) are also two-sport athletes.
* Three current Falcons--Travis Fugler, Dale Kasel and Josh Wolfram--have brothers who also played for the AFA baseball team. Fugler's twin brother, Tommy, played for the team in 2002. Kasel's older brother, Derck, played for the team from 2000-03. Wolfram's older brother, Kris, played for the Falcons from 1999-2001.
* Before going on to become the all-time winningest NCAA Division I men's basketball coach at North Carolina, hoops coaching legend Lt. Dean Smith was an assistant baseball coach for the Falcons in 1958.
