University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Tuesday, April 19
Greeley, Colo.
4:00 pm
University of Northern Colorado
vs
Air Force
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
INF
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INF/RHP
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OF
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INF
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INF
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Photo by: Rob Trubia
Tuesday's @NCBearsBaseball Game Shifted to Greeley
4/18/2016 4:21:00 PM | Baseball
Tuesday's UNC baseball game against Air Force will now be played in Greeley
aGREELEY, Colo. – Tuesday's baseball contest between the Northern Colorado Bears and Air Force Falcons has been shifted to Greeley, due to poor weather in Colorado Springs over Monday night and into Tuesday. First pitch for the game has been set for 3:30 p.m. With the change to this game, the final game between the Falcons and Bears this season on May 10th is now going to take place in Colorado Springs instead of Greeley.
Game Notes: Northern Colorao | Air Force | WAC
GREELEY, Colo. – Tuesday's baseball contest between the Northern Colorado Bears and Air Force Falcons has been shifted to Greeley, due to poor weather in Colorado Springs over Monday night and into Tuesday. First pitch for the game has been set for 3:30 p.m. With the change to this game, the final game between the Falcons and Bears this season on May 10th is now going to take place in Colorado Springs instead of Greeley.
Leading Off
• Northern Colorado heads into Tuesday's game with a three-game win streak. The streak is the longest of the season for UNC.
• Tuesday's game will be the third of the year between the Bears and Falcons. Air Force has won the first two by scores of 14-7 and 14-4.
• UNC won its first series of the season when they went 2-0 against CSU Bakersfield. The Bears earned the series win on Friday by sweeping the doubleheader. The two teams were supposed to play a third game, but weather in the Greeley area cancelled the game.
• Ryan Yamane had an excellent Friday going 5-for-7 with a walk and three runs scored and three RBIs.
• UNC has played an extra inning game in two of its past three games, winning both of them. The first came on April 10th when the Bears defeated Utah Valley 8-6 in 12 innings. In game two of the doubleheader, Cole Maltese hit a walk-off three-run home run for Northern Colorado's 6-3 win in 10 innings.
• In game one of last week's doubleheader, the team scored a season high six runs in the fourth inning. The previous high was five against Pacific on March 6th.
• Allen Cook tied a team season high for strike outs with seven over his three innings of work. Luke Haynes is the only other UNC pitcher to record that many strike outs this season.
Scouting Air Force
The Falcons are coming off a tough five game stretch against Iowa and UNLV both on the road in which Air Force dropped all five games. Outside of a lopsided 22-2 loss to Iowa the Falcons were in every game including three of them being decided by two runs or less.
Air Force has been one of the top hitting teams in the nation, with a .321 batting average that currently ranks them eighth in the nation. Bradley Haslam leads the team ith a .422 average, ranking 16th in the nation while driving in 33 runs and scoring 29 himself. Teammate Adam Grosesbeck is close to hitting over .400 as well with a .394 average. Grosesbeck leads the team in runs scored with 37 and stolen bases at 15.
On the mound, Air Force has a 4.81 ERA. Starter Griffin Jax has turned into an ace for the Falcons with a 6-2 record to go with his 1.59 ERA and 60-to-10 strikeout to walk ratio. Tuesday's probable starter in RHP Matt Hargraves carries in a 2.08 ERA this year in 12 appearances. He appeared over the weekend for the team in their series against UNLV going four and a third innings allowing two runs, only one earned, on four hits while striking out seven and walking four.
In the two games this season against UNC, Air Force has been putting on an offensive clinic scoring 14 runs in each while compiling a .463 batting average in the games.
Series History vs the Falcons
The series between Northern Colorado and Air Force is the longest standing in UNC's program history with 167 games between the teams. The Bears hold a 96-71 record in those games. Despite having the all-time lead in the series the Bears have struggled against the Falcons as of late with a 1-9 record over the last 10 games between the two teams, including going 1-3 against them last season.
Lean Dean Hitting Machine
Since being inserted into the regular starting line-up for UNC on March 16th, Dean Lawson has been a tough out for opposing pitchers. He is hitting .351 since then and also drawn seven walks.
Bash Brothers
Northern Colorado has a pair of bash brothers in Cole Maltese and Brett Minnick. The duo are tied for a team and WAC leading five home runs this season. Minnick got his five early on in the season and has slowed down recently, while Maltese has been heating up. Three of Cole's five have come in the past four games, including a walk-off three run home run in the team's most recent game.
Turning Two
UNC has been doing a good job of turning two this season. The Bears have turned 25 double plays already for the year. Those 25 double plays rank 156th overall in the NCAA and fourth in the WAC. Sacramento State leads the conference with 34 turned.
Yamane The Man
• After missing last year with a foot injury, Ryan Yamane has a few different UNC baseball records within reach. Coming into the 2016 season, he ranks fifth in at bats with 660, tied for12th in hits (190) and now first in walks with 130. Yamane broke the program record of 121 set by Jeff Cheek who played from 1972-75.
• Having taken over the all-time walks record, Yamane is one of the top players to draw a walk this season. His 23 walks are the fourth most in the WAC. He ranks second in the conference averaging 0.79 a game.
Every Day is Sunday
UNC may want to name every day of the week Sunday since that is when the Bears have won most of their games this year. The team is 5-1 on Sunday and 3-21 on any other day of the week.
Swiping Bags
The Bears have been on the run this year, swiping 32 bags so far this season, to rank 165th nationally and sixth in the WAC. Jake Ek leads the team with six stolen bases.
All Arms In
Tuesday's have become staff days for the Bears. Northern Colorado used seven pitchers again last week at Air Force, and eight this week against the Falcons
• Against Regis, the team used seven different pitchers who would hold the Rangers hitless for the first 5 1/3 innings
• Playing five straight games can take a toll on any pitching staff, for UNC they were able to string together a staff in the final game at Kansas. The Bears used eight pitchers lasting no more than 1 2/3 of an inning, but did see positive results. The eight pitchers combined to allow just two runs and six hits in the game.
Moving Runners Over
Senior Jake Ek moved plenty of runners over last year, finishing the season ranked 18th in the nation with 15 sacrifice bunts. Those 15 bunts helped produce nine runs for the team last year.
Following the Bears
Want to stay up to date with all things UNC Bears Baseball? There are a few ways to. During all games this year there will be live updates on the team's Twitter account @NCBearsBaseball.
For home games there will also be a live audio broadcast of the games as well as live stats on UNCBears.com.
Bear in the Big Leagues
For the first time since 2011, Northern Colorado had a player drafted in the MLB draft last June. Senior Jensen Park was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 32nd round. Before Park was drafted last year, Jarod Berggren was the last UNC player drafted back in 2011.
Making the Grades
Northern Colorado baseball had seven players earn their spot on the WAC All-Academic team for 2015. Those players were Allen Cook, Caleb Kirkman, Cole Maltese, Dan Reese, Reyn Sugai, Zach Heath and Brett Minnick.
Home Grown
Head coach Carl Iwasaki and his staff have done a good job of keeping the home grown talent in the state. 12 of UNC's 32 hail from the Centennial State.
Hawaii Five-0
The Bears have a little Hawaii flair to them with three players plus head coach Carl Iwasaki and assistant Kaiona Correa all coming to Colorado from the islands.
Exceeding Expectations
For the second straight year, UNC is going to have to exceed the expectations of the WAC coaches to make another trip to Mesa, Arizona for the conference tournament. The WAC coaches pegged the Bears to finish eighth in the conference. Last year the team was picked to finish last in the preseason, but exceed those expectations finishing 7th to make it to Mesa.
New Faces
Northern Colorado not only welcomes 11 new players to this year's ball club, but also has some new faces on the coaching staff. Kai Correa moves up to a full-time assistant after being a volunteer last season, while Coach Iwa also brought on Jordan Stouffer and Dan Siegfried as a volunteer assistant and director of baseball operations.
Class of 2017
While the 2016 season is just about to kick-off, UNC has already secured eight new players for its 2017 team. During the early signing period this year the Bears have brought in three infielders, a catchers, two utility players and a pair of right handed pitchers.
On Deck
UNC will continue a seven-game road trip when they head east to take on Chicago State for WAC play over April 22-24.
In the Hole
The Bears will have the weekdays off for rest, before heading to Grand Forks, N.D. to face WAC foe North Dakota for a trio of games starting on April 29th.
Around the Den
Women's golf is competing in the Big Sky Championships starting on Monday and going through Wednesday.
Softball has a busy week at home with a double header against Metro State-Denver on Tuesday, follow by a three-game series against Big Sky opponent Portland State over Friday and Saturday.
The Athletic Department is also hosting its eighth annual women's walk on Saturday. It will start at Nottingham Field at 10:30 and helps support all of UNC's women's sports.
Football wraps up spring practice with its spring game on Saturday starting at Noon.
| April 19, 3:30 p.m. | RHP Luke Haynes (0-1, 10.32 ERA) vs RHP Matt Hargreaves (1-1, 2.08 ERA) | Audio | Live Stats |
Game Notes: Northern Colorao | Air Force | WAC
GREELEY, Colo. – Tuesday's baseball contest between the Northern Colorado Bears and Air Force Falcons has been shifted to Greeley, due to poor weather in Colorado Springs over Monday night and into Tuesday. First pitch for the game has been set for 3:30 p.m. With the change to this game, the final game between the Falcons and Bears this season on May 10th is now going to take place in Colorado Springs instead of Greeley.
Leading Off
• Northern Colorado heads into Tuesday's game with a three-game win streak. The streak is the longest of the season for UNC.
• Tuesday's game will be the third of the year between the Bears and Falcons. Air Force has won the first two by scores of 14-7 and 14-4.
• UNC won its first series of the season when they went 2-0 against CSU Bakersfield. The Bears earned the series win on Friday by sweeping the doubleheader. The two teams were supposed to play a third game, but weather in the Greeley area cancelled the game.
• Ryan Yamane had an excellent Friday going 5-for-7 with a walk and three runs scored and three RBIs.
• UNC has played an extra inning game in two of its past three games, winning both of them. The first came on April 10th when the Bears defeated Utah Valley 8-6 in 12 innings. In game two of the doubleheader, Cole Maltese hit a walk-off three-run home run for Northern Colorado's 6-3 win in 10 innings.
• In game one of last week's doubleheader, the team scored a season high six runs in the fourth inning. The previous high was five against Pacific on March 6th.
• Allen Cook tied a team season high for strike outs with seven over his three innings of work. Luke Haynes is the only other UNC pitcher to record that many strike outs this season.
Scouting Air Force
The Falcons are coming off a tough five game stretch against Iowa and UNLV both on the road in which Air Force dropped all five games. Outside of a lopsided 22-2 loss to Iowa the Falcons were in every game including three of them being decided by two runs or less.
Air Force has been one of the top hitting teams in the nation, with a .321 batting average that currently ranks them eighth in the nation. Bradley Haslam leads the team ith a .422 average, ranking 16th in the nation while driving in 33 runs and scoring 29 himself. Teammate Adam Grosesbeck is close to hitting over .400 as well with a .394 average. Grosesbeck leads the team in runs scored with 37 and stolen bases at 15.
On the mound, Air Force has a 4.81 ERA. Starter Griffin Jax has turned into an ace for the Falcons with a 6-2 record to go with his 1.59 ERA and 60-to-10 strikeout to walk ratio. Tuesday's probable starter in RHP Matt Hargraves carries in a 2.08 ERA this year in 12 appearances. He appeared over the weekend for the team in their series against UNLV going four and a third innings allowing two runs, only one earned, on four hits while striking out seven and walking four.
In the two games this season against UNC, Air Force has been putting on an offensive clinic scoring 14 runs in each while compiling a .463 batting average in the games.
Series History vs the Falcons
The series between Northern Colorado and Air Force is the longest standing in UNC's program history with 167 games between the teams. The Bears hold a 96-71 record in those games. Despite having the all-time lead in the series the Bears have struggled against the Falcons as of late with a 1-9 record over the last 10 games between the two teams, including going 1-3 against them last season.
Lean Dean Hitting Machine
Since being inserted into the regular starting line-up for UNC on March 16th, Dean Lawson has been a tough out for opposing pitchers. He is hitting .351 since then and also drawn seven walks.
Bash Brothers
Northern Colorado has a pair of bash brothers in Cole Maltese and Brett Minnick. The duo are tied for a team and WAC leading five home runs this season. Minnick got his five early on in the season and has slowed down recently, while Maltese has been heating up. Three of Cole's five have come in the past four games, including a walk-off three run home run in the team's most recent game.
Turning Two
UNC has been doing a good job of turning two this season. The Bears have turned 25 double plays already for the year. Those 25 double plays rank 156th overall in the NCAA and fourth in the WAC. Sacramento State leads the conference with 34 turned.
Yamane The Man
• After missing last year with a foot injury, Ryan Yamane has a few different UNC baseball records within reach. Coming into the 2016 season, he ranks fifth in at bats with 660, tied for12th in hits (190) and now first in walks with 130. Yamane broke the program record of 121 set by Jeff Cheek who played from 1972-75.
• Having taken over the all-time walks record, Yamane is one of the top players to draw a walk this season. His 23 walks are the fourth most in the WAC. He ranks second in the conference averaging 0.79 a game.
Every Day is Sunday
UNC may want to name every day of the week Sunday since that is when the Bears have won most of their games this year. The team is 5-1 on Sunday and 3-21 on any other day of the week.
Swiping Bags
The Bears have been on the run this year, swiping 32 bags so far this season, to rank 165th nationally and sixth in the WAC. Jake Ek leads the team with six stolen bases.
All Arms In
Tuesday's have become staff days for the Bears. Northern Colorado used seven pitchers again last week at Air Force, and eight this week against the Falcons
• Against Regis, the team used seven different pitchers who would hold the Rangers hitless for the first 5 1/3 innings
• Playing five straight games can take a toll on any pitching staff, for UNC they were able to string together a staff in the final game at Kansas. The Bears used eight pitchers lasting no more than 1 2/3 of an inning, but did see positive results. The eight pitchers combined to allow just two runs and six hits in the game.
Moving Runners Over
Senior Jake Ek moved plenty of runners over last year, finishing the season ranked 18th in the nation with 15 sacrifice bunts. Those 15 bunts helped produce nine runs for the team last year.
Following the Bears
Want to stay up to date with all things UNC Bears Baseball? There are a few ways to. During all games this year there will be live updates on the team's Twitter account @NCBearsBaseball.
For home games there will also be a live audio broadcast of the games as well as live stats on UNCBears.com.
Bear in the Big Leagues
For the first time since 2011, Northern Colorado had a player drafted in the MLB draft last June. Senior Jensen Park was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 32nd round. Before Park was drafted last year, Jarod Berggren was the last UNC player drafted back in 2011.
Making the Grades
Northern Colorado baseball had seven players earn their spot on the WAC All-Academic team for 2015. Those players were Allen Cook, Caleb Kirkman, Cole Maltese, Dan Reese, Reyn Sugai, Zach Heath and Brett Minnick.
Home Grown
Head coach Carl Iwasaki and his staff have done a good job of keeping the home grown talent in the state. 12 of UNC's 32 hail from the Centennial State.
Hawaii Five-0
The Bears have a little Hawaii flair to them with three players plus head coach Carl Iwasaki and assistant Kaiona Correa all coming to Colorado from the islands.
Exceeding Expectations
For the second straight year, UNC is going to have to exceed the expectations of the WAC coaches to make another trip to Mesa, Arizona for the conference tournament. The WAC coaches pegged the Bears to finish eighth in the conference. Last year the team was picked to finish last in the preseason, but exceed those expectations finishing 7th to make it to Mesa.
New Faces
Northern Colorado not only welcomes 11 new players to this year's ball club, but also has some new faces on the coaching staff. Kai Correa moves up to a full-time assistant after being a volunteer last season, while Coach Iwa also brought on Jordan Stouffer and Dan Siegfried as a volunteer assistant and director of baseball operations.
Class of 2017
While the 2016 season is just about to kick-off, UNC has already secured eight new players for its 2017 team. During the early signing period this year the Bears have brought in three infielders, a catchers, two utility players and a pair of right handed pitchers.
On Deck
UNC will continue a seven-game road trip when they head east to take on Chicago State for WAC play over April 22-24.
In the Hole
The Bears will have the weekdays off for rest, before heading to Grand Forks, N.D. to face WAC foe North Dakota for a trio of games starting on April 29th.
Around the Den
Women's golf is competing in the Big Sky Championships starting on Monday and going through Wednesday.
Softball has a busy week at home with a double header against Metro State-Denver on Tuesday, follow by a three-game series against Big Sky opponent Portland State over Friday and Saturday.
The Athletic Department is also hosting its eighth annual women's walk on Saturday. It will start at Nottingham Field at 10:30 and helps support all of UNC's women's sports.
Football wraps up spring practice with its spring game on Saturday starting at Noon.
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