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Air Force Falcons baseball

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Air Force Falcons
Founded1957 (1957)
UniversityUnited States Air Force Academy
Head coachMike Kazlausky (14th season)
ConferenceMountain West
LocationUSAF Academy, Colorado
Home stadiumErdle Field
(Capacity: 1,000)
NicknameFalcons
ColorsBlue and silver[1]
   
NCAA Tournament appearances
1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1969, 2022
Conference tournament champions
2022
Regular season conference champions
2024
KJ Randhawa dives for a hard-hit ground ball
For information on all United States Air Force Academy sports, see Air Force Falcons

The Air Force Falcons baseball team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of the United States Air Force Academy in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, north of Colorado Springs.[2] The team is a member of the Mountain West Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. Air Force's first baseball team was fielded in 1957. The team plays its home games at Erdle Field on the Academy grounds. The Falcons are coached by Mike Kazlausky.

Major League Baseball

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Air Force has had eleven Major League Baseball Draft selections since the draft began in 1965.[3]

Another former Air Force player, Paul Skenes, was the first overall pick in 2023. He played two seasons at the Academy before transferring to LSU after the 2022 season.

Air Force Falcons in the Major League Baseball Draft
Year Player Round Team
1972 Brad Fulk 1 (2nd overall) Rangers
1974 Jeffrey Brown 20 Phillies
2001 Mike Thiessen 42 Diamondbacks
2007 Karl Bolt 15 Phillies
2013 Garrett Custons 10 Blue Jays
2015 Ben Yokley 29 Cardinals
2016 Griffin Jax 3 Twins
2016 Jacob DeVries 38 Guardians
2017 Adam Groesbeck 38 Braves
2019 Nic Ready 23 Marlins
2023 Sam Kulasingam 17 Blue Jays

Mountain West Tournament history

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The Falcons have appeared in twelve Mountain West baseball tournaments since it began in 2000.

Air Force Mountain West Baseball Tournament History
Year Seed Record Pct. Placing
2000 6th 2-2 .500 2nd
2001 6th 0-2 .000 6th
2002 4th 0-2 .000 5th
2003 6th 0-2 .000 6th
2004 6th 1-2 .333 5th
2005 6th 0-2 .000 6th
2006 7th 0-2 .000 7th
2013 6th 0-2 .000 6th
2014 6th 0-2 .000 7th
2015 5th 1-2 .333 5th
2016 5th 2-2 .500 3rd
2022 4th 3-0 1.000 1st
2023 3rd 2-2 .500 2nd

NCAA tournament history

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Air Force has been to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament 7 times in its history.

Air Force NCAA tournament History
Year Record Pct. Notes
1961 0-2 .000 Lost to Wyoming in the NCAA District 7 Regional Upper final. Eliminated by Colorado State College in the Lower final.
1962 2-2 .500 Eliminated by Colorado State College in the NCAA District 7 Regional final.
1964 2-2 .500 Eliminated by Arizona State in the NCAA District 7 Regional finals.
1966 1-2 .333 Eliminated by Idaho in the NCAA District 7 Regional finals.
1967 2-3 .400 Eliminated by Arizona State in the NCAA District 7 tournament finals.
1969 0-2 .000 Eliminated by Idaho in the NCAA District 7 tournament semifinals.
2022 2-2 .500 Eliminated by Texas in the NCAA Austin Regional final.

Head Coaches

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In 65 years of play in college baseball, the Falcons have had fifteen head coaches.

Air Force Falcons Head Coaches
Tenure Coach Record Pct.
1957 Glenn Mackie 6–9 .400
1958 Jack Schwall 9–9 .500
1959–1963 Wendell Lawrence 69–52 .570
1964–1967 John Sparks 65–36 .643
1968 Rene Miller 14–17 .452
1969–1970 Terry Goewert 37–20–1 .647
1971–1975 & 1977–1985 Joe Robison 282–255–2 .525
1976 Ron Hudak 17–24 .417
1986–1988 Jim Hanley 56–89 .386
1989–1994 Paul Mainieri 152–158 .485
1995–1998 Eric Campbell 74–137 .351
1999 Joe Giarratano 19–32 .373
2000–2003 Reed Peters 88–134 .396
2004–2010 Mike Hutcheon 78–287 .213
2011–Present Mike Kazlausky 291–380 .434

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Air Force Athletics Style Sheet" (PDF). March 12, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
  2. ^ "Air Force Falcons". d1baseball.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-15. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
  3. ^ "MLB Amateur Draft Picks who came from "United States Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs, CO)"". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
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