U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AFNEWS) --
The U.S. Air Force Academy baseball team opened the 2007 season Feb. 7 with a doubleheader split with York College. The Falcons took game one 4-2 and dropped a wild 10-9 contest in game two.
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 three-for-three with one run and one run batted in, and Alexander went two-for-two with one run and one 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 inning, 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 inning 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 the academy 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 walk.
The Falcons had 14 hits in game two. Bolt led the way going three-for-five with two doubles, a homer and five RBIs. 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.
The Air Force returns to action Feb. 9 through 11 in a three-game match against Northern Colorado in Greeley.
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