Program

FIRST MATCH: vs. UNLV, April 29, 3:00 p.m. MT
SECOND MATCH: against UNLV, April 30, 12:00 MT
GAME THREE: vs UNLV, May 1, 12:00 MT

Broadcast information
Live Stream: Mountain West Network (Jeffrey Orman)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Twitter: @AF_Baseball

Series history
-The two schools have met for 147 all-time games, with the Air Force posting a 39-108 record.
-Over the past 10 games overall, Air Force is 4-6 against UNLV.
-In the Falcons’ last 12 games at Falcon Field against the Rebels, the Air Force is 7-5.
-Earlier this season, the Air Force was swept in a three-game series in Las Vegas, after being outscored 31-16.

Pitch probabilities

FIRST GAME
HPR Paul Skenes (6-2, 2.90 ERA) against TBD

SECOND GAME
HPR Doyle Gehring (1-2, 3.93 ERA) vs TBD

GAME THREE
TBD versus TBD

Air Force Projected Batting Order
1. 1B, so. Sam Kulasingam (S) (.389/.466/.617/6 HR/42 RBI)
2. CF, Jr. Blake Covin (L) (.285/.376/.368/1 HR/22 RBI)
3.LF, Sr. Gabriel Garcia (R) (.337/.419/.604/8 HR/45 RBI)
4. RF, therefore. Jake Greiving (L) (.343/.409/.597/7 HR/36 RBI)
5. DH, So. Paul Skenes (R) (.320/.407/.639/9 HR/28 RBI)
6. 3B, so. Jay Thomasson (G) (.359/.436/.686/13 HR/38 RBI)
7. C, Sr. Braydon Altorfer (R) (.264/.362/.450/6 HR/28 RBI)
8. 2B, Jr. Trayden Tamiya (R) (.255/.302/.379/3 HR/25 RBI)
9. SS, so. Aerik Joe (R) (.275/.356/.320/0 HR/19 RBI)

Last series against Kansas

FIRST GAME
–The Air Force roster continued its pattern of hitting hard, posting 18 runs in six innings before the 10-run rule began action Tuesday to secure the Falcons 18-8 victory.
–Sam Kulasingam led all players with three hits in four at-bats with two of his three hits resulting in added bases.
-The sophomore made two runs with a brace in the 3rd before hitting his 6th homer of the season in the 5th, a solo shot to start the inning.
–Jake Greiving collected two doubles as part of a 2-3 day, posting a career-high 4 RBI. -Greiving received an RBI after a base-laden walk in the 1st before tackling a run with a sack fly in the 3rd.
-Greiving put out an exclamation in his afternoon in the 5th, throwing a two-run double off the center field wall to drive home two runs.
–Gabriel Garcia finished 2-3, sparking the Falcons’ offense with a three-point triple in 3rd.
–Jay Thomasson also had two hits in five plate appearances, scoring Paul Skenes with a double in the center-right in the 5th.
–Braydon Altorfer lined up a double down the left-field line at 4th to give the Air Force a 10-8 lead, an advantage that was never relinquished.
–Kyle Moat came on top of the 4th with two outs and the game was tied 8-8, blocking a pair of runners after a fly out to end the frame.
-Moats went 2.1 hitless innings, striking out seven of eight batters he faced en route to earning his first victory in a Falcons uniform.

SECOND GAME
-The Falcons struggled to keep pace with the Jayhawks on Wednesday, dropping the final game of the two-game midweek series 13-9.
–Gabriel Garcia hit the 7th and 8th home runs of his 2022 season this afternoon, marking his first career multi-home run game.
Garcia finished the day 3-5 with 4 RBIs.
–Sam Kulasingam increased his hitting streak to 16 straight after a 3-6 day at the plate, including two doubles and 2 RBIs.
-The second has now reached base in 28 consecutive games and in 39 of 41 games this season.
–Trayden Tamiya reached base in all four of his plate appearances, going 3-3 with a brace and a walk. –Aerik Joe was 2-3, while Jay Thomasson drove in a race with a one-two at 8th.
–Steve Fairburn Jr. made his first start of 2022, allowing seven runs on nine hits with three strikeouts in his 3.0 working innings.
–Ryan Stohr and Rob Martin saw a run cross in their respective 2.0 heats, while Zach Argo gave up a grand slam in the 8th to encompass his throw line over two innings.

boys crush
-Over the Falcons’ last seven games, the Air Force squad has averaged 14.1 points per game.
-Over those seven games, Air Force averaged 16.3 hits per game and 7.4 XBH per game.
-The Falcons have batted .355 since April 19.
-With a .304 batting average per team, the Air Force ranks 21st among 293 Division I programs.

Friday night might
-After the transition from the bullpen to the Friday starting slot, Paul Skenes stayed true to form.
-Skenes has a 9.8 K/9 to lead the Falcons.
-Skenes’ total of 54 strikeouts is 4th in the MW.
-The BA sophomore’s .207 opponent also leads the MW.
-Skenes leads all Air Force pitchers with 49.2 PI.
-Right-handers only hit .195 from Skenes, left-handers owning a .230 BA.
-Skenes’ 1.42 GO/FO rate is second only to Dylan Rogers (1.57) among AF launchers.
-Skenes’ 32 base hits allowed are the lowest among MW starters.
-Skenes 2.90 ERA leads among MW starters.
-Air Force is 7-2 in the game Skenes started.

Oh… He knocks too
-Skenes currently has an eight-game hitting streak, going 14-31 (.452) during that streak.
-In his last eight games at the plate, Skenes has homered five times and two doubles with 16 RBIs.

Skenes named MW player of the week
On April 25, Paul Skenes was named Mountain Player of the Week after his performance in five games the previous week.
-Skenes was crucial in the Air Force splitting a two-game road series at #10 Texas, as well as the Falcons’ series win over Fresno State at Falcon Field.
-Skenes finished the week 9-20 at the plate with 7 extra hits, 5 home runs and 15 RBIs in four games. -Skenes homered in all four games at the plate, including two homers and a career-high 7 RBIs in Sunday’s 15-9 win over Fresno State.
-The second also had a win on the mound on April 22 against Fresno State, totaling 6.0 IP while allowing just three runs with eight strikeouts.

Skenes named MW pitcher of the week
-April 4, Paul Skenes was named Mountain West Pitcher of the Week after his weekend performance at Fresno State.
-The second went six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out three and walking one.
-The California native dueled Fresno State starter Ixan Henderson, who entered the weekend leading the conference in ERA (1.05 ERA) and K/9 (12.3).
-Skenes has not seen a baserunner cross second base in his six innings.
-In earning his third win of the season on Friday, Skenes set the tone for a weekend in which the Air Force earned its first-ever series win at Fresno State in program history.

He’s going through “BOMB-ason” now
–Jay Thomasson enters Tuesday tied for the Mountain West lead in home runs (13).
-His 13 home runs are tied for 7th among Division I players.
-All of Thomason’s homers this season and his college career have come this season.
-As a result, Thomason leads the Air Force in OPS (1.122) and slugging (.686).
-Thomason’s slugging percentage is tied for 4th highest in the MW.
-His 1.122 OPS is the 5th highest in the MW.
-With 38 RBIs, Thomason is 3rd among the Falcons in the category.
-Overall, Thomason is 48-109 (.440) in his last 25 games.
-Thomason is 8-10 in stolen base attempts, 4th in the MW standings.
-Thomason is second behind Kulasingam for the team lead with 18 multi-hit games.

Sammy K, hitting machine
-Kulasingam’s .389 average leads the Air Force’s skilled hitters, as does his 68 hits.
-His batting average ranks him 42nd among all DI hitters.
-Kulasingam’s 68 hits are 9th among DI hitters.
-With 18 doubles, Kulasingam ranks 10th in Division I in the category.
-The second has reached base in its last 28 games and in 39 of 41 games in 2022.
-Kulasingam currently has a 16-game hitting streak.
-The switch-hitter’s .466 OBP leads all Falcon hitters.
-Kulasingam leads AF in total goals (108).
-With almost identical gaps, Kulasingam reaches 0.388 against right-handers and 0.391 against left-handers.
-Kulasingam is hitting .442 with two outs and .463 with runners on base.
-Kulasingam leads the Falcons with 19 multi-game hits.
-Year 2 leads the Air Force with 13 multi-RBI games as well.

A prototype three-hole type
-In Gabe Garcia’s first nine games, the senior hit just .167 (5-30) with an XBH.
-In Garcia’s last 32 games he exploded, hitting .382 (52-136) with 24 XBH.
-This stretch includes 14 multi-hit games.
-Garcia has led in 44 of 45 RBIs in the last 32 games, leading the team in RBI.
-Garcia is 3rd on AF in total goals (102).
-Garcia’s 15 doubles are second to Kulasingam among AF batters.
-The C1C ended its 19-game hitting streak on April 23, but still has a 23-game on-base streak.

He makes Greive pitchers
-Sophomore Jake Greiving energized the Air Force roster in its 37 games.
-Greiving had his 19-game scoring streak and 11-game hitting streak canceled on Wednesday, but he was a force at the plate nonetheless.
-Greiving has had at least two hits in six of his last eight games.
-This period includes five doubles and five home runs in those eight games.
-Greiving’s .597 SLG% is 5th among Falcon hitters.
-His 80 goals in total is the 4th most of the team.
-Greiving’s .409 OBP is 4th among skilled AF hitters.
-His .343 BA is 3rd among AF hitters.

Midfield infield finds a groove
-Shortstop Aerik Joe settled at the plate, recording at least one hit in 15 of his last 17 games, including eight straight.
-Joe has played in 13 of his 19 RBIs in his last 17 games.
– Second baseman Trayden Tamiya had at least one hit in 13 of his last 14 games.
-Tamiya has increased his batting average by 0.116 points in his last 21 games (0.139 to 0.255).
-With 8 sacrificial flies, Tamiya ranks 8th among all Division I players and leads the West Mountain.

Alt and catch fire
-After holding a .211 batting average as of April 14, Braydon Altorfer found a jolt in the last eight games.
-Altorfer’s batting average has increased to .264 from 14 to 31 (.452) over the past eight games.
-In his last 31 at-bats, Altorfer has hit five doubles and two homers with 10 RBIs.

After UNLV
-After the Falcons’ weekend series with UNLV, the Air Force will host Oral Roberts on Monday, May 2.