Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Air Force
'Dogs travel to Air Force for first MW road series [March 17-19]
3/16/2017 5:44:00 PM | Baseball
Games 17-19: Fresno State (9-6, 2-1 MW) at Air Force (8-9, 0-6 MW)
First Pitch:Â March 17-19 - Fri: 2:00Â p.m. PT, Sat: 12:00Â p.m. PT, Sun: 12:00Â p.m. PT
Stadium:Â Falcon Field (1,000)
Surface:Â Sport Turf
Dimensions:Â 349Â (LF), 400 (CF), 316 (RF)
All-Time Series:Â Fresno State leads 22-7
Last Meeting: Air Force defeated Fresno State 9-7 (May 26, 2016 in Albuquerque, N.M. at the MW Tournament)
Radio:Â AM 940 ESPN
Play-by-play:Â Paul Loeffler
Video:Â Mountain West Network
Live Stats:Â GoBulldogs.com
Twitter:Â @FresnoStateBSB
Bulldog Headlines
• The Bulldogs won their third consecutive game on Wednesday afternoon defeating San Francisco 6-3 at Benedetti Diamond behind a three-run home run by Aaron Arruda.
• The 'Dogs won two of three games over Eastern Michigan over the weekend falling 15-11 on Friday before winning 10-2 on Saturday and 6-3 on Sunday.
• Fresno State, who started the season with 14 of their first 15 games at home, will play its first Mountain West road series at Air Force this weekend.
• Now in their fifth season in the Mountain West, the 'Dogs are 1-3 in their MW road openers winning for the first time in 2016.
• Fresno State is 22-7 all-time against Air Force with the 'Dogs winning six of seven games against the Falcons in 2016.
• It will be the first time the Bulldogs have played Air Force in Colorado Springs since 2015 as the two teams met last year in Grand Junction as the 'Dogs won all three games.
• The 'Dogs currently rank 13th in the nation in sacrifice bunts (16) and are 23rd in hits allowed per 9IP (7.25).
• Junior LHP Ricky Tyler Thomas ranks third in the nation in strikeouts (42).
Fresno State vs. Air Force - The Series
• Fresno State and Air Force have met 29 times on the baseball diamond.
• The Bulldogs lead the all-time series with the Falcons 22-7.
• Fresno State was able to defeat Air Force in six of seven games in 2016.
• The 'Dogs are 18-5 against AFA since joining the MW going 12-0 at home, 6-4 on the road and 0-1 at a neutral site.
• Air Force was able to defeat the Bulldogs 9-7 at the 2016 Mountain West Tournament played in Albuquerque, N.M.
Where Fresno State Ranks Offensively in the Mountain West in 2017 (as of 3/16/17)
• .300 Batting Average: No. 4 [Leader, UNM - .331]
• .426 Slugging Pct: No. 5 [Leader, UNM- .537]
• .379 On base Pct: No. 4 [Leader, UNM - .417]
• 16 sacrifice bunts: No. 2 [Leader, NEV - 19]
• 95 Runs: No. T-4 [Leader, UNM - 147]
• 163 Hits: No. 5 [Leader, UNLV - 209]
• 87 RBI: No. 4 [Leader, UNM - 134]
• 34 Doubles: No. T-3 [Leader, UNM - 47]
• 7 Triples: No. T-2 [Leader, AFA - 8]
• 7 Home Runs: No. 6 [Leader, UNM- 21]
Where Fresno State Ranks Pitching in the Mountain West in 2017 (as of 3/16/17)
• 4.00 ERA: No. 2 [Leader, SDSU - 3.40]
• .224 Opposing bat average: No. 1
• 6 saves: No. 1
• 152 strikeouts: No. 1
• 64 Earned runs allowed: No. 2 [Leader, SDSU - 57]
• 116 Hits allowed: No. 1
• 76 walks allowed: No. 5th [Leader, NEV & UNM - 53]
• 15 doubles allowed: No. 1
• 3 triples allowed: No. 3 [Leader, SDSU - 1]
• 7 home runs allowed: No. 1
Where Fresno State Players Rank in the Mountain West/NCAA in 2017Â
Batting Average: Aaron Arruda - 10th (.358)
Slugging percentage: Arruda - 8th (.597)
On-Base percentage: Austin Guibor - 9th (.446)
Hits: Arruda - T-9th (24)
RBI: Arruda - T-6th (18)
Runs: Guibor - T-5th (17)
Doubles: Jesse Medrano - T-3rd (7)
Sacrifice bunts: Â Korby Batesole - 1st (6)
ERA: Ricky Tyler Thomas - 1st (1.32)
Opposing batting average: Thomas - 1st (.155)
Hits allowed: Davis Moore - 1st (10); Fred Schlichtholz - 2nd (12); Thomas - 3rd (15)
Earned runs allowed: Thomas - 1st (4)
Innings pitched: Thomas - 2nd (27.1)
       Rickey Ramirez - T-4th (26.0)
Strikeouts: Thomas - 1st (42) (3rd in the nation)
          Ramirez - 3rd (27)
Saves: Edgar Gonzalez - 2nd (3)
Taking a look at the Air Force Falcons
Air Force has started the season 8-9 overall, but has gotten off to a slow start to Mountain West playing dropping all six contests. The Falcons got swept at home by MW preseason favorite New Mexico two weeks ago and dropped three one-run contests in Las Vegas to UNLV last weekend.Â
The Falcons are hitting an impressive .330 as a team to rank second in the conference and eighth in the nation. Air Force puts up some impressive offensive numbers ranking seventh in the nation in doubles (45), ninth in hits (201), 12th in slugging percentage (.508) and 31st in scoring averaging 7.6 runs per game.
Junior infielder Tyler Zabojnik ranks 12th in the nation with a .458 average from the plate and his 59 total bases on the season ranks second in the country. Air Force has a potent lineup beyond Zabojnik as senior Bradley Haslam leads the team with 73 at-bats and 21 runs scored while tying for the team-lead with 20 RBIs.
The pitching staff has an ERA of 7.98 with opponents hitting .340 allowing 152 runs in 17 games as opponents are averaging 8.9 runs per game. The Falcons have surrendered 84 walks and struck out 121 while allowing 68 extra-base hits.
The weekend rotation of Jacob DeVries, Ethan Nichols and Matt Hargreaves is a combined 2-3 throwing a combined 49.1 innings and has 40 strikeouts to only 12 walks. Hargreaves has tossed a team-high 22.1 innings and has 22 strikeouts, while Nichols has pitched 18.1 innings and has a win.
The Falcons finished fifth in the Mountain West in 2016 with a 30-27, 12-18 MW mark and were predicted to repeat that performance in the 2017 MW Preseason poll tying for fifth with UNLV. Air Force is led by seventh-year head coach Mike Kazlausky who is 129-213 in his tenure at AFA.
Fresno State in Mountain West road openers
March 22, 2013 - L, 14-7 at Air ForceÂ
March 8, 2014 - L, 6-2 at Air Force
Feb, 20, 2015 - L, 9-8 (10) at Nevada
March 4, 2016 - W, 3-2 (10) at San Diego State
The 'Dogs are 1-3 in their Mountain West road openers dropping their first three contests before winning at San Diego State 3-2 in 10 innings in 2016 thanks to a home run by Brody Russell and a strong pitching performance by Ricky Tyler Thomas.
Fresno State vs. Air Force in Colorado
2013 - 0-1 (L, 14-7)
2014 - 2-1 (L, 2-6; W, 7-5; W, 10-8)
2015 - 1-2 (L, 1-2; L, 1-10; W, 6-5)
2016 - 3-0 (W, 11-6; W, 5-1; W, 4-2)
The 'Dogs are a combined 6-4 against Air Force in Colorado since joining the Mountain West, including sweeping all three games in 2016 over the Falcons in Grand Junction. The games were moved to Sam Suplizio Field, home of the Colorado Rockies Rookie ball team, after winter weather forced the games to be moved.
The last series the 'Dogs played at Falcon Field came in 2015 when the 'Dogs were held to one run in each of the first two games before winning the third game 6-5. The Bulldogs won the series in 2014 and dropped the one game they were able to play in 2013.
Stone on a 28-game on-base streak                                           Â
Senior outfielder Jake Stone is the lone 'Dog to hit safely and reach base in all 16 games this season after a second inning single against USF on Wednesday and dating back to 2016 is currently on a 28-game hitting streak as he reached base safely in the 'Dogs final 12 games of last season.
Four pitchers rank in top 4 in the Mountain West in opposing batting average
Thomas, Moore, Ramirez and Schlichtholz rank first, second, third and fourth, respectively in opposing batting average in the Mountain West as each is holding opponents to under a .222 average from the plate. Junior JJ Santa Cruz is 10th to give the 'Dogs five of the top 10 spots in the MW.                                   Â
Up next:Â The Bulldogs return home to host Pepperdine on Wednesday afternoon at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium. The 'Dogs and Waves will resume their March 7 suspended contest at 4:05 p.m. and 30 minutes after the conclusion of that contest will start their regularly scheduled contest.
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