The Colorado Buffaloes men’s baseball team hosted the Air Force Falcons in a three-game series at Scott Carpenter Park to kick off the 2024 fall ball season. Saturday featured two seven inning games, with the final game being nine innings on Sunday.
The Falcons won both games on Saturday, outscoring the Buffs by 25 runs to nine. The Buffs took the third game on Sunday by a score of 9-6.
The Buffaloes are still without coaches. President of the club Andrew Garcia and Vice President Nathan Hoffman are responsible for setting the lineups, pitching changes during the games and meeting with the umpires before games.
In the first game, senior pitcher Drew Weddle was dominating on the bump for Air Force. In six innings, Weddle recorded five strikeouts while only allowing four hits and one runner to score. The senior never allowed more than four Buffs to bat in a single inning, successfully holding the black and gold to a combined batting average of .250.
Hoffman had two of the Buffs four hits and their only run batted in.
The Buffs used five pitchers in this seven inning exhibition game, throwing a combined 145 pitches.
Seven out of the nine Air Force batters reached base twice, and five of those seven reached three times.
The Buffs were outplayed both offensively and defensively by the Falcons in game one. For Colorado to make the second game of the doubleheader close, they needed pitchers to throw strikes and the bats to wake up.
The second game started with the Buffs trailing by three runs within the first 10 pitches of the game. After the leadoff two hitters for the Falcons reached base, junior Caleb Guden smacked a home run into left-center field, putting Colorado down before recording any outs in the game.
Colorado responded in the bottom of the first with four hits and two runs scored. Despite the two run inning, the Buffs' pitching could not keep the Falcons bats at bay, allowing four runs to score on two hits and three batters hit by pitch in the top of the second.
Air Force never looked back after jumping out to an early 7-2 lead. The game ended after the sixth inning, with the Falcons winning 15-8.
Air force took the field on Sunday looking to sweep their opening series, meanwhile the Buffs were still searching for their first win of the season.
The first three innings played out to the same script as both games on Saturday, with the black and gold trailing 6-0 heading into the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth, sophomore Jared Walsh provided a spark for the Buffaloes as he stole home with two outs for Colorado’s first run of the game.
The sophomore was eyeing the Falcons catcher, Nick St. George, on his lead from third and noticed that when the pitch was a ball St. George would not look him back to the bag. On the fourth pitch of the at bat Walsh took his opportunity.
Walsh’s steal ignited the Buffs as they scored eight runs in the next inning, seven of those with two outs. Colorado batters were patient and forced long at-bats, which caused two runs to be walked in by the Falcons pitcher.
Not only did Walsh help get the Buffs’ bats going, but he also helped hold the Falcons scoreless in the 8th inning. In a 14 pitch inning, Walsh allowed two base runners and recorded two strikeouts, continuing his contribution to the win for the black and gold.
Colorado was able to hold onto their lead, winning their first game of the fall by a score of 9-6.
Although the bats woke up for Colorado in the second two games, their pitching struggled throughout the weekend, a possible product of not having coaches.
The Buffs will play again next weekend against Colorado School of Mines. The schedule will be the same with a doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. MT, with the final game on Sunday at 12 p.m. MT. Stream the games live on the Sko Buffs Sports YouTube channel.
Cover photo by Lucy Alagna/Sko Buffs Sports
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