Game One – New Mexico 11, Air Force 7
Game one was high octane for the offenses, as AF and UNM combined for 31 hits. The Falcons finished with just one less than UNM with 15, which included five doubles. The biggest difference was that AF left 11 men on base.
Senior Tommy Gillman led the way in his season debut, tying his career-high with four hits, including a triple and RBI. Three other Falcons had two-hit games, as junior Gabriel Garcia, senior Christian Gambale, and freshman Paul Skenes each had two knocks with one double. Garcia also added an RBI and two runs scored.
On the mound, sophomore Jason Shuger had a solid day in relief, as he went 4.1 innings only allowing a pair of runs while striking out five. Freshman Doyle Gehring pitched a scoreless eighth with two strikeouts as well.
Following a scoreless first in which the Falcons left the bases loaded, AF got on the board with a three-run second. Gillman led off with a single in his first AB of the season, and senior Cole Blatchford doubled him in at the next at bat. After two outs were recorded, Garcia singled in Blatchford with a two-out single, and Gambale followed with a hit and run single to drive in Garcia and make it 3-0 early on.
UNM got two runs back in the bottom of the second, but AF responded right away in the top of the third. Sophomore Alexander Pup led off with a single and one batter later, Gillman rocketed one to deep center, and the one-hopper off the wall led to an RBI triple to put the lead back to 4-2.
The Lobos struck back with a seven-run bottom of the third to leap ahead by five, 9-4, into the fourth inning. In the top of the fourth, Garcia drew a walk, and proceeded to steal second and third. On third with two outs, a wild pitch allowed him to score all on his own to cut the lead to 9-5.
Despite getting a couple solid opportunities in the fifth and sixth innings, UNM twisted double plays in both of them to keep the Falcons off the board and maintain the four-run deficit into the bottom of the sixth. The Lobos turned around and tacked on a pair more with runs in the sixth and seventh to up their lead to 11-5 with two innings left.
AF was held scoreless in the eighth, but got a couple back in the ninth with two-out RBI singles from Skenes and freshman Jay Thomason to make it 11-7. Despite the mini comeback, UNM was able to close out the four-run win in game one.
Game Two – New Mexico 5, Air Force 2
Both offenses did not keep the momentum into the nightcap, as AF only notched three hits, all singles.
On the mound, senior John Byrnes took a tough loss after going the first five innings, only allowing three earned runs while striking out a career-high seven. In relief, junior Nathan Price made his season debut with two scoreless frames, only allowing two hits with a strikeout. Pitching in his hometown, senior Joe Martinez III tossed the final frame, and did not allow a run with a K as well.
The Lobos struck first in the bottom of the first with an unearned run to take a 1-0 lead after one. AF responded with a pair in the second on a bases loaded catcher's interference and an RBI fielder's choice from sophomore Blake Covin to give AF the lead, 2-1. New Mexico was able to respond right away with a two-out RBI in the bottom of the second to knot it at 2-2 after two.
UNM regained their lead in the bottom of the third with another unearned run. Meanwhile, Byrnes struck out his fifth batter to send it to the fourth, 3-2. The Lobos tacked on a pair more in the fourth to up their lead to three into the fifth inning.
From there, Price and Martinez III combined to blank the Lobo offense in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. Despite their efforts, the Falcon offense could not get back in it, even though the tying run came to the plate in the ninth inning, sealing the 5-2 final.
The series finale will come tomorrow, Feb. 28, at Santa Ana Star Field. First pitch is set for noon MT.
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Baseball Drops Mountain West Opening Doubleheader at New Mexico - U.S. Air Force Academy Athletics
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