Air Force baseball goes 1 for 2 at Mississippi State during opening weekend

STARKVILLE, Ms – On Saturday Air Force upset Mississippi State in Starkville, but on Sunday the Falcons found it tough sledding falling 10-2 to hosting Mississppi State.

Jay Thomason was the only Falcon to produce a multi-hit afternoon, going 2-4 with a pair of base-hits and a stolen base. Sam Kulasingam opened the ballgame with a leadoff walk to maintain what is now a 58-game on-base streak, though his hitting streak was snapped at 24 games after an 0-3 line. The C1C drove in one of the Falcons two runs in the 5th.

Aerik Joe’s RBI single in the 4th plated the first Air Force run, extending his on-base streak to 37 games.

Chase Spencer and Jake Greiving also added singles to the Falcons hit column.

Ben Weber, making his first start of the spring, pitched much better than his final line may suggest. The sophomore didn’t allow an unearned run until the 5th, as the Air Force defense was beleaguered for most of the afternoon. Nine of his 14 outs were the result of groundballs.

However, in the ill-fated 5th inning with the score tied, a lead-off groundout was followed by a double and a pair of singles to give the Bulldogs a 4-2 lead.

In a tough spot, Gaines Estridge made his collegiate debut after being given the baseball with two on and two outs. The freshman walked the first batter he saw on five pitches before a run-scoring wild-pitch and a two-run single saw a tied ballgame evolve into a 7-2 Falcons deficit.

The Bulldogs would go on to score three more runs in the 6th, while Air Force managed just two hits over its final four turns at the plate. The Falcons did not have an extra-base hit on Sunday after tallying seven over the first two games of the series.

Of note as well, Tripp Garrish notched his first collegiate hit after pinch-hitting in the 7th, while Davis Rhyne allowed just one hit over his first 1.2 scoreless innings in an Air Force uniform.

Van Klein drew a well-earned walk in his first collegiate at-bat in 9th. Christian Taylor was given his first Air Force plate appearance one batter later.

Dylan Rogers appeared in the 8th, picking up a strikeout while retiring all three batters he faced.

Next, Air Force will travel to Hattiesburg on Monday to take on Southern Miss to close its time in the Magnolia State. The first-ever meeting between the two schools is scheduled for 3:00 pm MT.

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