Long Ball Leads @NCBearsBaseball Over Air Force

Tuesday, April 11

Greeley, Colo.

3:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

13-17

Air Force Academy

14-17

Air Force

Northern Colorado

4/11/2017 8:11:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

UNC and Air Force combine for nine home runs in Tuesdays 9-8 Bears win

By: Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY – It was a day of long balls at Jackson Field as Northern Colorado edged Air Force 9-8. The teams combined for nine home runs in the game.

How it Happened
The first inning looked to be coming and going in quiet fashion, when thunder struck from UNC's bats as they hit back-to-back-to-back jacks. Cole Maltese started the fun then Jack Pauley and Brett Minnick followed suit. The trio of dingers happened with two outs in the inning.

UNC retired Air Force in order and kept the offensive mojo rolling in the bottom of the second. It was another two-out rally for the Bears. Tyler Yamaguchi, Nick Tanner and Evan Johnson with three straight singles. Johnson's drove home Yamaguchi to make it a 4-0 game. Maltese, hit his second home run of the day after that, putting the team up 7-0 through two.

The Falcons chipped away at the Northern Colorado lead though, with a pair of two-run home runs. One from Bradley Haslam and another from Nic Ready. Air Force cut the lead to one with a three run sixth. Ready hit his second long ball of the day, another two run home, and Rob Dau had a solo shot.

UNC responded with a run to put the lead back to two in the bottom of the sixth. Tyler Yamaguchi tripled down the right field line as Russell Williams missed on a diving catch attempt. He was brought home on a productive out when Nick Tanner grounded to second.

Air Force responded with a run in the seventh, but then Connor Leedholm came in and shut down the Falcons. He got out of a runners on the corners jam in the eighth and struck out the final two batters of the game.

Game Changer
Air Force had all of the momentum scoring seven straight runs to make it a one-run game before Tyler Yamaguchi hit a triple down the right field line. He ended up scoring the game-winning run right after that on Nick Tanner's ground out. For the game, Yamaguchi was 3-for-4 and just a double shy of the cycle. He scored all three times on base and had one RBI.

Notable
- It was all about the long ball at Jackson Field as the teams hit nine combined. Five of those nine were by the Bears, it was the first time since May 22, 2010 they hit at least fine home runs. The back-to-back home runs were the first since May 24, 2012 from Adam Hilker & Colby Harrison.
- Today's win snapped a seven-game losing streak to Air Force. The last UNC win against the Falcons came in April, 2014.
-Along with Yamaguchi, Cole Maltese had a three hit day. He finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and four RBI.

Quotable
Head Coach Carl Iwasaki
"That was just a game at altitude at Jackson Field today. When you get a southwest wind like today, the ball can fly out of here. Our guys did a good job continuing their approach at the plate and had a good day at the plate. Justin Mulvaney had a solid two innings to start the day for us, and then Connor (Leedholm) was solid for us at the end of the game in holding the lead.

Junior Pitcher Connor Leadholm
"Coach Spiehs and I discussed if it was the slider or curve working well for me going into the ninth and I told him it was the slider so we stuck with that. It ended up being the pitch that got the final two outs, both sliders away."

Junior Utility Player Cole Maltese
"I got a steady mix of pitches today, my first home run was on a slider and then second he just piped a fastball that I took over the wall. On a day like today you know if you get a good one towards left with the wind it will go out. Even then you can't try and hit a home run, because that is when you end up not hitting one."

What's Next?
The Bears will play a three game series against Metro State this weekend. UNC and MSU face each other on Friday at Jackson Field at 2 pm, before going down to Denver for a doubleheader Saturday starting at noon.