UNC Stays Hot in Win Over Air Force

Wednesday, April 3

Colorado Springs, Colo.

3 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

6-22

Air Force

11-16

Northern Colorado

Air Force

4/3/2024 11:55:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Final Box Score Season Stats Postgame Notes

By: Michael High, Assistant Director for Strategic Communications

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Brandon Sanchez, Caden Wagner and Northern Colorado's pitching staff carried the Bears to an 8-5 victory over Air Force at Erdle Field Wednesday.

UNC (6-22) utilized six pitchers en route to its five-consecutive win, while Sanchez and Caden Wagner each went 4 for 5 at the plate and accounted for five runs and five RBIs.

Air Force (11-16) needed just two batters to score the game's first run. The Falcons leadoff man worked a nine-pitch walk of Mason Bright, before swiping second base and scoring on a double from the next hitter. Bright settled in and retired six of the final seven batters he faced.

Northern Colorado plated two runs in the fourth and grabbed a 2-1 advantage. Sanchez and Caden Wagner led off the frame with back-to-back extra-base hits to score the first run. Sanchez smashed a liner into the right-center gap and slid into third ahead of the throw. Caden Wagner followed suit with a drive off the upper portion of the barrier. UNC manufactured a second tally with ground out, followed by a sacrifice fly from Garrett Fisher.

In the home half of the stanza, Air Force loaded the bases with one out and the Bears went to their bullpen. Hunter Gibson dispatched the threat on four pitches, fanning the first batter he faced, before inducing an inning-ending force out at third.

UNC responded by adding three runs in the fifth and carried a 5-1 advantage halfway through the contest. The Bears loaded the base with one out, with an infield single for Austin Bunn and hitting James Wright and Zain Zinicola on back-to-back pitches, knocking out the Falcons' starter. Sanchez lined a single to left, plating Bunn and Wright. Caden Wagner delivered his second RBI double in as many innings and moved the advantage out to four.

Wright opened a three-run seventh when he netted his second home run of the season with a leadoff towering fly ball down the right-field line. After a groundout, Sanchez beat out an infield hit and crossed the plate when Caden Wager drilled a liner off the wall in left center for a hustle triple – the second of his career. He scored when younger brother Kai Wagner dumped a single in front of the right fielder.

Jake Storey, Gibson, Wilbur Berrios, Jack Tuttle and Jake Carvajal combined to toss six scoreless innings out of the bullpen, allowing five hits and two walks, with three strikeouts. The Bears went to Kevin Sharp in the ninth. He worked around three unearned runs after a UNC miscue and secured the victory with a strikeout looking.

Up Next
The Bears return to Jackson Field Friday for a weekend series against Oral Roberts – the defending Summit League Champions. The opener begins at 2 p.m., with Saturday and Sunday slated for noon starts.