May 2, 2007
Complete Series Notes in PDF Format
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Air Force vs. Utah Valley State (19-26) & Northern Colorado (10-24)
Dates: May 4 vs. UVSC (11 a.m.) and UNC (3 p.m.); May 5 vs. UNC (11 a.m.)
Site: Jackson Field, Greeley, Colo.
Live Radio/Stats: Available for UVSC game only.
The Coaches:
Mike Hutcheon is 32-167 in his 4th year at Air Force and 271-307 in his 13th year as a head coach.
Steve Gardner is 448-391 in his 17th year at UVSC and 624-391 in his 25th year overall.
Kevin Smallcomb is 116-132 in his fifth year at UNC and 366-279 in his 16th year overall.
Series Histories: UVSC leads 4-2; UNC leads 85-48
Pitching Probables W-L ERA G-GS IP K BB
5/4 Fri Casey Allen - So. RHP 0-1 9.88 11-4 27.1 11 13
5/4 Fri Alex Truesdale - Fr. RHP 0-7 8.32 16-9 61.2 28 14
5/5 Sat Jake Petro - So. RHP 3-8 5.75 13-12 62.1 30 38
Air Force Takes Utah Valley State and Northern Colorado
Air Force baseball (7-36) travels up north to take on Utah Valley State (19-26) and Northern Colorado (10-24) this Friday-Saturday, May 4-5, at Jackson Field in Greeley. The Falcons take on UVSC and UNC on Friday beginning at 11 a.m. and then play one game against UNC on Saturday at 11 a.m. Live stats will only be available for the Utah Valley State game.
The Last Time Out
Air Force was swept in three games at BYU State last week. The Falcons squandered leads in all three games.
The 2007 Falcons
Air Force enters the weekend with a 7-36 record. The Falcons are batting .260 as a team. Senior Karl Bolt leads the team with a .348 batting average. His seven homers and 38 RBI rank in the top ten in the conference. The Falcon pitching staff has a 8.38 staff earned run average. Senior right-hander Mitch Brown leads the Falcon pitching staff. Brown is 2-8 on the year and leads the Falcons with a 5.05 ERA in 62.1 innings and has struck out 38 batters. Air Force is fielding .951 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 Utah Valley State
Utah Valley State enters the weekend with a 19-26 record after falling 2-1 in 12 innings to BYU on Tuesday. The Wolverines are batting .308 as a team, led by freshman third baseman Jace Brinkerhoff, who is batting .398 with 11 doubles and 25 RBI. The UVSC pitching staff has a 7.03 staff ERA. Junior right-hander Marcus Moore leads the Wolverine staff with a 5-3 record and 2.90 ERA. More has logged 62 innings in 15 appearances, striking out 64.
Air Force-UVSC Connections
- Air Force has no players on its team from Utah.
- UVSC has three players on its roster from Colorado (Tyler Garretson - Greeley; Turreal More - Loveland, Brandon Stone - Fort Collins).
Series History vs. UVSC
- Air Force is 2-4 all-time against Utah Valley State. The two teams started playing each other in 2005. Last year the Falcons took two of three games at UVSC.
- Air Force and UVSC played each other earlier this year at the Banana Belt Tournament in Lewiston, Id, with the Wolverines coming out on top, 7-3.
Scouting Northern Colorado
Northern enters the week with a 10-24 record after getting swept at Creighton over the weekend. UNC is batting .265 as a team and led by senior catcher John Ray, who is batting .311 with five home runs and 22 RBI. The Bears have a 6.98 team ERA and are led by Senior right-hander Eric Maydew, who is 3-5 on the season with a 6.35 ERA. May dew has 40 strikeouts in 56.2 innings pitched.
Air Force-UNC Connections
- UNC has 22 players on its roster from Colorado.
- Air Force and UNC are the two lone Div. I baseball programs in Colorado.
Series History vs. UNC
- UNC leads the all-time series with AFA 85-48.
- 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.
- The Bears swept the Falcons in a three game series earlier this season at the Academy.
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, April 17, 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.
Randhawa Blistering-Hot In MWC Play
Shortstop K.J. Randhawa is on fire at the plate in Mountain West Conference play. The freshman is batting .440 in MWC play, ranking sixth in the conference. Randhawa batted .462 against BYU last weekend, going 6-for-13. Randhawa currently has a seven-game hitting streak during which he raised his batting average 67 points from .207 to .274.
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 (6th - 191), home runs (7th- 32), times hit by pitch (5th - 33), hits (6th - 218) and walks (5th - 90).
Ten Doubleheaders In 2007
Air Force played its ninth and tenth doubleheaders of the year last weekend against San Diego State.
The Falcons are 4-16 in the twinbill games so far in 2007. The Falcons played seven doubleheaders in 2006.
Falcons Second In Stolen Bases
Air Force is averaging 1.56 stolen bases per game which ranks second in the MWC only to BYU. The Falcons have stolen 67 bases in 96 attempts, good for an 69.8 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 has seven swipes in conference play.
Rubber Arm Ruvolo
Freshman Michael Ruvolo leads the Falcons the Mountain West Conference with 28 pitching appearances. Ruvolo has appeared in 13 of 17 MWC games for the Falcons. The freshman right-hander from Lake Arrowhead, Calif., has appeared in 65.0 percent of the team's games. He is currently on pace to appear in 35 games for the Falcons, which would break the all-time single season mark for pitching appearances at the Academy which stands at 33 games. His 28 appearances and 13 conference appearances are both MWC freshman records.
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 43 games this season, the Falcons have started five-or-more freshmen 31 times and started six, nine times. Against Akron, the Falcons went with seven freshmen in the starting lineup. Freshmen Matt Alexander (CF) has played in all 43 games for the Falcons and is second on the team with with 44 hits and 28 RBI. Ben Ausbun (3B) has started 38 games at third and K.J. Randhawa (SS) has 36 starts, 34 at short. Alex Truesdale (RHP) is second on the team with 61.2 innings pitched and third on the team with 28 strikeouts. Addison Gentry has started 35 games at DH and is third on the team with 10 doubles and Daniel Walker has started 20 games in center field.
Hitting/Offense Notes
• Air Force batted .287 against BYU.
• K.J. Randhawa was the top hitter for the Falcons, batting .462 (6-for-13) against the Cougars.
• Geno Salazar hit his six homer of the season vs. BYU and led the Falcons with three RBI in the series.
• Jason Griggs stole a pair of bases against BYU to raise his season total to 10.
• Chay Derbigny and Matt Alexander both hit triples against BYU.
Pitching Notes
• Air Force had a 7.88 ERA against BYU.
• After allowing two runs in the first inning of his relief appearance, Mitch Brown then pitched five shutout innings the rest of the way vs. BYU.
• Casey Allen pitched into the seventh inning against BYU.
• David Miller, Joe Peterson and Adam Teach did not allow an earned run in relief outings vs. BYU.
Defensive Notes
• The Falcons fielded .955 against BYU, committing five errors in 110 chances.
• First baseman Karl Bolt leads the MWC with 386 fielding chances and 359 putouts.
• Ben Ausbun, K.J. Randhawa and Geno Salazar rank amongst the top 10 in the MWC in assists.
Additional Notes
• The Falcons scored 10 runs in the first inning against Colorado Christian on April 17, the first time it has scored double-digit runs in an inning since scoring 11 against Harvard on March 6, 2004.
• 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 BYU Series
On Thursday, Air Force lost in heartbreaking fashion, as the Cougars pushed across a pair of runs in the seventh inning to rally to a 5-4 win over the Falcons Thursday night at Miller Park.
Leading 4-3 after seven-and-a-half innings, Air Force could not hold the lead as BYU rallied with the two runs.
The loss spoiled a stellar pitching performance from Falcon starter Casey Allen. Allen held the potent Cougar offense at bay, scattering 10 hits in six-plus innings, allowing four runs. Reliever Michael Ruvolo (0-5) was charged with the loss, allowing the game-tying and go-ahead runs in the seventh.
Freshman David Miller also pitched well for the Falcons, two innings of shutout relief.
BYU starter Jordan Muir (5-3) picked up with win, allowing four runs off eight hits in seven innings pitched. Reliever Matt Jensen picked up his second save of the year with two scoreless innings of relief.
The Falcons had nine hits in the game, led by freshman K.J. Randhawa. Randhawa continued his hot-hitting in conference play by going 2-for-4.
Air Force jumped out to an early 2-0 lead by scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first. BYU rallied with a run in the bottom of the inning and then took a 3-2 lead with two runs in the third inning.
The Falcons came back immediately with two runs in the top of the fourth to re-take a 4-3 lead. The score remained that way until the Cougars rallied with the two runs in the seventh.
Air Force made things interesting in the ninth, as Chay Derbigny singled with two outs. The Falcons' hopes were dashed however, as Derbigny was thrown out by BYU catcher and Pueblo native e, J.T. Musso, attempting to steal second to end the game.
In game two on Friday, a five-run third inning propelled BYU to a 7-4 win over the Falcons.
Cougar starter Jake Wortham struck out 10 Falcons in seven innings to improve to 5-4 on the season. Wortham allowed three runs on seven hits.
Falcon starter Alex Truesdale (0-7) gave up five runs on five hits in two innings of work. AFA reliever Mitch Brown pitched effectively in relief, allowing two runs in six innings and pitched five scoreless innings to end the game.
The Falcons had 10 hits in the game. Freshman K.J. Randhawa went 3-for-5 and Karl Bolt went 2-for-5 with two RBI. Geno Salazar also his his sixth homer of the year for the Falcons.
BYU also had 10 hits in the game. Kasey Ko led the way for the Cougars, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored.
Air Force jumped out to an early 1-0 lead with a run in the first. BYU came back with two runs in the second to take a 2-1 lead.
The Falcons then tied the game up with a run in the top of the third. The Cougars then scored the five runs in the bottom of the inning to jump ahead 7-2.
On Saturday, Air Force dropped a 11-2 game to BYU.
Air Force led 1-0 headed into the third inning, but BYU scored 11 unanswered runs over the next three innings. The Falcons put up another run in the eighth inning.
Cougar starter Jesse Craig (7-2) held the Falcons to one run on eight hits in six innings pitched. Air Force starter Jake Petro (3-8) took the loss, allowing eight runs on 10 hits in 4.1 innings.
The Falcons had 10 hits in the game. Karl Bolt, Addison Gentry and Josh Meents had two hits apiece for the Falcons. Gentry hit his tenth double of the season, Chay Derbigny added his third triple of the season and Jason Griggs stole his 10th base of the season in other Falcon highlights.
BYU had 13 hits in the game. Apana Nakayama led the way for the Cougars, going 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI.
Up Next
Air Force returns to action May 11-13 playing host to Utah in a three-game MWC series. The Falcons final home game of the year will be on Sunday. Four AFA seniors will be honored for their contribution to Falcon baseball prior to the game.
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.
