Falcons take opener with late scoring burst

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Four-run sixth and seventh innings on Friday afternoon at Falcon Field lifted host Air Force to a 9-6 win over the New Mexico baseball team in the opening game of a Mountain West Conference series.

The Lobos led 2-1 after the top of the sixth inning, riding Braydon Runion’s fifth home run of the season to a mid-game lead. The Falcons broke through in the middle innings however, and then withstood a late comeback effort by the Lobos to secure the victory.

Jake Sansing earned the win for the hosts, allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks in seven innings of work. Sawyer Hawks secured his fourth save of the season, coming in and recording the final out in the ninth to help the Falcons improve to 17-23 overall and 10-9 in conference play.

New Mexico made a comeback push with a four-run ninth inning, but the tying run was left in the on-deck circle when the final out was recorded. The Lobos fell to 18-15 with the defeat and slipped to 6-9 in conference play with the loss.

A two-out knock by Lenny Junior Ashby led to a two-run home run off the bat of Runion, as the Lobos took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. UNM starter Riley Egloff responded with his first strikeout of the day, and an ensuing double play turned by Dylan Ditzenberger, Devon Dixon, and Reed Spenrath made it a zero for the hosts.

Deylan Pigford punched a one-out double to right field in the second, but Sansing worked around the hit to strand the runner in scoring position.

Egloff faced his first stressful situation of the game in the top of the second, when three straight singles loaded the bases with just one out. The senior coaxed a comebacker off the bat of Matt Thompson, which he fired to Jake Holland at home to start an inning-ending double play.

Runion led off the fourth with a walk, before hustling around to third on a base hit by Spenrath. The Lobos failed to capitalize on the opportunity however, as Sansing got out of the jam with a strikeout and a pair of routine plays by his defense. The Falcons got on the board in the bottom of the inning, on Jay Thomason’s Mountain West leading 14th home run of the season.

Ditzenberger made the defensive play of the day in the bottom of the fifth, diving to snag a ground ball while shifted up the middle and throwing to Spenrath just in time to nab Sam Kulasingam to end the inning.

The Lobos put runners on the corners again in the top of the sixth, but Sansing once again stranded a pair to keep his team within one.

Air Force turned the tables in the bottom of the sixth, plating four runs to take a 5-2 lead. Thomason led off the frame by just missing his second home run of the game, and Jake Greiving delivered the game-tying hit with an RBI-single. A walk and two more singles loaded the bases, before Chris Stallings came through with a two-run double to right field. Landon Boyd capped the rally with a sacrifice fly, as the Falcons began building a lead that proved too big for the Lobos to overcome.

Air Force struck again in the seventh, when a leadoff triple by Kulasingam followed by a pair of walks loaded the bases. Trayden Tamiya ripped a two-run double to the wall in left, and Stallings made the score 9-2 with a two-out, two-run single into center field.

Kyle Smith led off New Mexico’s big ninth inning with a double, before Justin Olson drew a walk and Caleb Herd singled to left field to load the bases and keep the game alive. Jeffrey David plated two runs with a double into the left-field corner, before Ashby singled to right to get the Lobos within striking distance. Hawks needed just one pitch to secure the save however, as a fly ball off the bat of Runion ended the game.

Ashby finished 3-for-5 to lead UNM offensively, while Runion and David joined the three-hole hitter with two RBIs apiece. Seven runners left on base – the majority of which came early on in the game – proved costly for the Lobos in the defeat. Egloff surrendered five runs on 11 hits with a strikeout and two walks in 5 1/3 innings, and Brian McBroom allowed four runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings of work. Wil Bannister notched his second straight scoreless outing on the hill, pitching the final 1 1/3 innings allowing no runs.

Tamiya was 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and RBIs, while Thomason finished 3-for-5 and Kulasingam, Aerik Joe, and Stallings had two hits apiece for the Falcons.

LOBO NOTES: New Mexico is now 151-58 all-time against Air Force and is 54-33 in road games against the Falcons…the season series is now even at 2-2…Runion’s home run was his 18th as a Lobo and the 34th of his collegiate career…Smith extended his team-leading reached base streak to 14 games with his double in the ninth.

NEXT UP: The series continues on Saturday, with a noon first pitch scheduled at Falcon Field.