Senior John Byrnes earned his second win of the season after going the first 6.1, a new career-high, and only allowing three hits while striking out five. In relief, junior Rob Martin tossed 1.2 hitless with a K, while freshman Paul Skenes earned his fifth save of the year with a hitless ninth, while also notching a punch-out.
This trio of pitchers all lowered their top-three team-best ERAs with the shutout. Byrnes now owns a 2.80 over 45 innings, while Martin has a 2.60 over 17.1 and Skenes is the team leader with a 1.93 over 14 frames.
On offense, the Falcons tallied nine hits on the day, including four doubles. Juniors Alexander Pup and Gabriel Garcia each had two-hit days, which both included RBI doubles. Junior Braydon Altorfer also had a two-hit day with a double, while Skenes notched a single to extend his hitting streak to six and reached base streak to 15.
Both teams were held scoreless over the first two innings, as Byrnes struck out the side in the second to send it to the third. AF broke the ice in the top of the third as, after a two out HBP by Skenes, senior Cole Blatchford ripped a single to center, and after it was misplayed by the centerfielder, Skenes scampered home to make it 1-0 in the early innings.
Byrnes kept cruising in the third and fourth innings, only allowing a couple runners but yielding no further damage to keep the shutout into the fifth. In the fifth he went 1-2-3 with his fourth K to keep it 1-0 with four innings to play.
In the sixth, Byrnes ran into a little trouble as a runner got to second on a sun-induced bloop double to get a man into scoring position with just one out. Despite the pressure, Byrnes got a pair of fly outs to center to keep the shutout intact into the seventh.
The Falcons got the bats going again in the seventh, as a leadoff single led to an RBI double from Pup to double the lead to 2-0 into the stretch. In the bottom of the seventh, DBU got runners to send and third, but Martin, who came on with one out in the frame, got a harmless pop out to keep it 2-0 into the eighth.
AF kept up the offensive momentum in the top of the eighth, as Garcia drove home a lead off HBP on a double in the gap to up the lead to 3-0. Martin tossed a scoreless bottom of the eighth, and then Skenes pitched a quick ninth to lock down his fifth save of the season and the 3-0 shutout victory.
The Falcons and Patriots will return to the diamond for the rubber match tomorrow, April 18. First pitch is set for noon MT.
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April 18, 2021 at 05:28AM
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Falcons Blank Patriots, 3-0 - U.S. Air Force Academy Athletics
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