April 18, 2007
Complete Series Notes in PDF Format
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Air Force (7-29, 0-10) vs. San Diego State (23-17, 7-4)
Dates: April 20-22; Friday at 6 p.m.; Saturday DH beginning at 1 p.m.; Sunday at 1 p.m.
Site: Tony Gwynn Stadium - San Diego, Calif.
Radio/Live Stats: www.goAztecs.com/Gametracker
The Coaches:
Mike Hutcheon is 32-160 in his 4th year at Air Force and 271-300 in his 13th year as a head coach.
Tony Gwynn is 136-149 in his 5th year at San Diego State and overall.
Series History:SDSU leads, 65-15
Pitching Probables W-L ERA G-GS IP K BB
4/20 Fri Casey Allen - So. RHP 0-1 11.57 9-2 18.2 7 12
4/21 Sat Alex Truesdale - Fr. RHP 0-5 7.15 14-7 56.2 26 12
4/21 Sat Jake Petro - So. RHP 3-6 5.07 11-10 49.2 24 34
4/22 Sun Mitch Brown - Sr. RHP 2-7 5.43 14-10 53.0 31 21
Air Force Takes On San Diego State In Four Games
Air Force baseball (7-29, 0-10) heads west for the weekend, taking on San Diego State (23-17, 7-4) in four games at Tony Gwynn Stadium from April 20-22. Live internet radio and live stats will be available for free at www.goAztecs.com for the entire series.
The Last Time Out
Air Force was swept in a three game set against New Mexico on Sunday and Monday and defeated Colorado Christian on Tuesday. The Falcons lost 10-6 in game one of the doubleheader Sunday to UNM. The Falcons then lost a heartbreaking 17-13 ballgame in 11 innings in game two, which concludeded on Monday after the game was called due to darkness on Sunday. The Falcons then lost 17-8 in game three. The Falcons rebounded with a 13-0 thumping of CCU on Tuesday, erupting for ten runs in the first inning to coast to the win.
The 2007 Falcons
Air Force enters the weekend with a 7-29 record. The Falcons are batting .265 as a team. Senior Karl Bolt leads the team with a .357 batting average. His seven homers and 36 RBI rank second and third in the MWC. The Falcon pitching staff has a 7.78 staff earned run average. Sophomore right-hander Jake Petro leads the Falcon pitching staff. Petro is 3-6 on the year and leads the Falcons with a 5.07 ERA in 49.2 innings and has struck out 24 batters. Air Force is fielding .952 as a team, ranking sixth in the conference.
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 San Diego State
San Diego State enters the weekend with a 23-17 record. SDSU's head coach is 2007 Major League Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Tony Gwynn. The Aztecs went 1-2 over the weekend at Utah. SDSU is batting .285 as a team, led by sophomore third baseman Nick Romero, who is batting .351 with five homers and 33 RBI. The Aztec pitching staff has a 4.15 staff ERA. Junior left-hander Donnie Hume leads the SDSU staff with a 4-2 record and 3.07 ERA. Hume, a transfer from Long Beach State, has logged 41 innings in seven starts, striking out 35.
Air Force-SDSU Connections
- Air Force has eight players on its team hailing from California.
Matt Alexander - Oak Park (Oak Park HS)
Karl Bolt - Stockton (Lincoln)
Tom Bowen - Alameda (Miramonte)
Addison Gentry - Roseville (Roseville)
David Miller - Norco (Norco)
K.J. Randhawa - Fairfield (Vacaville Christian)
Dan Richardson - Bakersfield (Liberty)
Mike Ruvolo - Blue Jay (La Habra)
- Mike Koons is the lone SDSU player from Colorado. Koons hails from Castle Rock and attended Douglas County HS.
Series History vs. SDSU
- SDSU leads the all-time series vs. Air Force 65-15.
- The Aztecs took the two games earlier in the season against the Falcons. Game three was snowed out.
- San Diego State has won 18 consecutive games against the Falcons.
- Air Force last defeated the Aztecs, 3-0, on April 26, 2003.
Falcons Hot At The Plate
Air Force has raised its team batting average 15 points over its last four games to .265 on the season. The Falcons batted .354 in their last four games. Air Force had a season-high 13 runs and 19 hits in the second game of the series vs. New Mexico.
First 10-Spot Since 2004
The Falcons scored 10 runs in the first inning against Colorado Christian, the first time it has scored double-digit runs in an inning since scoring 11 against Harvard on March 6, 2004.
Top Base Stealing Team In MWC
Air Force is averaging 1.77 stolen bases per game and 2.1 in conference play, the tops in the MWC. The Falcons have stolen 62 bases in 83 attempts, good for an 74.7 percent success rate. Against TCU alone, the Falcons have stolen 15 bases in 17 attempts. The team's season high is seven stolen bases in a game done against Kansas Wesleyan. Junior Chay Derbigny leads the team with 14 stolen bases. Freshman Daniel Walker ranks second in the MWC with seven swipes in conference play.
Nine Doubleheaders In 2007
Air Force plays its ninth doubleheader of the year this weekend against San Diego State. The Falcons have already played eight doubleheaders in 2007, going 4-12 in those games. The Falcons played seven doubleheaders in 2006.
Blanking Last Two Non-Conference Foes
Air Force has shutout its last two non-conference opponents. The Falcons blanked Colorado Chrisitian 13-0 on Tuesday and shut out Hawai'i at Hilo, 7-0, on March 31. Air Force pitchers have currently tossed 19 consecutive scoreless innings against non-conference foes.
Bolt Moving Up The Falcon Record Charts
Senior Karl Bolt, a steady presence in the 3 or 4 slot in the batting lineup the last four years, is steadily climbing the record charts at Air Force. Bolt is amongst the Air Force all-time top 10 in several categories, including career games played (8th - 184), home runs (7th- 32), times hit by pitch (6th - 31), hits (8th - 210) and walks (5th - 90).
Rubber Arm Ruvolo
Freshman Michael Ruvolo leads the Falcons the Mountain West Conference with 24 pitching appearances. Ruvolo has appeared in 9 of 10 MWC games for the Falcons. The freshman right-hander from Lake Arrowhead, Calif., has appeared in 66.7 percent of the team's games. He is currently on pace to appear in 36 games for the Falcons, which would break the all-time single season mark for pitching appearances at the Academy which stands at 33 games. He is just three conference game appearanes shy of breaking the freshman appearances mark of 12 games set by Mitch Brown in 2003.
Freshmen Making Immediate Impact
Featuring one of the youngest, if not the youngest, team in the nation, Air Force is relying heavily on its freshman class so far in 2007. Through the first 36 games this season, the Falcons have started five-or-more freshmen 25 times and started six, seven times. Against Akron, the Falcons went with seven freshmen in the starting lineup. Freshmen Matt Alexander (CF) has played in all 36 games for the Falcons and is second on the team with a .311 average to go with three homers and 28 RBI. Ben Ausbun (3B) has started 33 games at third and K.J. Randhawa (SS) has 29 starts, 27 at short. Alex Truesdale (RHP) leads the team with 56.2 innings pitched and is second on the team with 26 strikeouts. Addison Gentry has started 29 games at DH and is third on the team with nine doubles and Daniel Walker has started the 14 of the last 16 games in center.
Hitting/Offense Notes
• Air Force batted .354 against New Mexico, its best total in a three-game series this season.
• The Falcons had season high's of 13 runs and 19 hits in game two of the UNM series.
• Tyler McBride doubled in three-consecutive at bats, two against New Mexico and one against CCU.
• Chay Derbigny has scored eight runs in the last three games to go with eight hits. Derbigny is batting .329 in his last 21 games (26-for-79). Derbigny also hit his first double of the year against UNM Mexico, which came in his 85th at bat of the season.
• Daniel Walker ranks second in the MWC with seven stolen bases in conference play.
• Ben Ausbun batted .500 against UNM and has hit four doubles in his last four games.
• Karl Bolt drove in five runs against New Mexico and had eight in the last four games.
• Geno Salazar has hit three home runs in his last five games.
• Matt Alexander has a nine game hitting streak and drove in four runs against CCU.
Pitching Notes
• Air Force had a 13.34 ERA against New Mexico.
• Mitch Brown has not allowed a run in his last eight innings pitched. He needs four more innings pitched to reach 200 career innings, currently sitting at 196.
• Michael Ruvolo's 24 appearances ranks 9th all-time in a single-season at the Academy.
• Sophomore left-hander Billy Wargula made his debut with one scoreless inning against Colorado Christian.
• Daniel Richardson did not allow a run in one releif appearance against New Mexico.
Defensive Notes
• The Falcons fielded .949 against New Mexico committing seven errors in 136 chances.
• The Falcons tied a season-high with three double plays against Colorado Christian and had their sixth errorless game of the season.
• First baseman Karl Bolt leads the MWC with 346 fielding chances and is second with 323 putouts.
• Ben Ausbun, K.J. Randhawa and Geno Salazar rank amongst the top 10 in the MWC in assists.
Additional Notes
• It's rare enough for a team to play a two-site doubleheader any time, but the Falcons have already done so twice this year. Air Force played Navy in Millington, Tenn., during the morning of Feb. 23 and then, due to weather concerns for the next day, decided to play a second game in Memphis, Tenn., later that day. This past Friday, March 2, the Falcons took on Lewis-Clark State in Lewiston, Idaho at 2 p.m. and then traveled 40 minutes across the Washington border to take on Washington State in Pullman, Wash., at 7 p.m.
• The Falcons 5-4 win against Kansas Wesleyan took just one hour and 18 minutes to play. The Falcons played the doubleheader that day (14 innings total) in a combined three hours and 26 minutes.
• The three game series sweep of Kansas Wesleyan was the Falcons' first in four years. The Falcons last swept a three-game series against Hastings College in 2003.
• The Falcons stole seven bases against Kansas Wesleyan in the first game of the series.
Recapping the CCU Game
A ten run first inning propelled the Falcons to a 13-0 shutout victory over Colorado Christian Tuesday afternoon at Falcon Field. The win is Air Force's second-consecutive shutout win over a non-conference opponent.
The Falcons pounded out 13 hits in the game, led by the 3-4 hitters Karl Bolt and Matt Alexander. Bolt went 3-for-5 on the day with two runs and three RBI. Alexander was 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBI.
Geno Salazar continued to his power surge, hitting his fifth home run of the year to go with two hits and two RBI. Chay Derbigny also homered for the Falcons, scoring three runs and stealing a base.
Air Force sent 14 batters to the plate in the first inning as they jumped out to an early 10-0 lead. The Falcons added a run in the third and two more in the sixth to round out the scoring.
Five Falcon pitchers combined to hold Colorado Christian to seven hits in the win. Starter Mitch Brown picked up the win with four predetermined innings. Brown scattered four hits to improve to 2-7 on the season. Alex Truesdale, Billy Wargula, Daniel Richardson and Michael Ruvolo combined to pitch five scoreless innings in relief.
Wargula and freshman Stephen Bintz made their collegiate debuts for the Falcons. Wargula tossed a scoreless seventh inning and Bintz struck out as a pinch hitter.
McCoy Worthington was the top hitter for Colorado Christian, going 2-for-4 with a double. Cougar starter Matt Tomlinson (0-1) was roughed up for 10 runs, six earned, in two-thirds innings of work. CCU then used five relievers the rest of the way.
Up Next
Air Force returns to action next Thursday-Saturday, April 26-28 at BYU. Thursday's game begins at 7 p.m., Friday's at 6 p.m. and Saturday's at 1 p.m.
Season Standing Notes
• Petro Named MWC Pitcher Of The Week - For his effort against Hawaii Hilo, sophomore right-hander Jake Petro was named Mountain West Conference Pitcher and Player of the Week on April 2. This is the second career weekly award for Petro.
Petro, a San Antonio, Texas, product, tallied his third win of the season with complete game shutout in Air Force's 7-0 victory at Hawai'i-Hilo last Saturday. The win snapped the Falcons' 13-game losing streak. In seven innings of work, he scattered four hits while striking out three batters. Petro allowed just one base runner to get past second base in the game. The shutout was the first for Air Force in 58 games, dating back to the 2006 season. He also tossed three scoreless innings in relief in the first game of the series. On the week, Petro hurled 10.0 innings of scoreless ball, striking out six, walking three and giving up just seven hits.
• Bolt Hits For Cycle - Falcon senior Karl Bolt hit for the Cycle last Wednesday against Colorado Christian. In addition, the senior drove in four runs and scored three. It was the first cycle performance by a Falcon since Tony Shockley accomplished the feat on March 27, 2003 against Hawai'i. Bolt singled in the fourth, doubled in the sixth and hit a two-run homer in the eighth. The Stockton, Calif., native capped the day off by smacking a triple to the right-center gap.
• Ausbun Named To All-Tournament Team - Freshman third baseman Ben Ausbun was named to the 2007 Service Academies Spring Classic All-Tournament team. The Puyallup, Wash., native batted .455 in the three games (5-for-11), scoring two runs and driving in one. Ausbun had three hits combined in the two games against Navy and also had a pair of hits against Akron.
• Bolt Brothers Battle In Millington - When Air Force took on Navy at the Service Academies Springs Classic at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn., brothers Karl and Kendall Bolt faced 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. Kendall got the better of the brothers, as Navy took both games of the series with Kendall scoring the go-ahead run in the first game.
• 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.
• 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.
• Closing in on 500 - The Falcons are one win away from 500 wins all-time at Falcon Field. Air Force is 499-388 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 seven players that can either hit or throw from the left side. Four batters and three pitchers hit and throw from the odd side and will give Mike Hutcheon some strategic possibilities.
