Long Ball Carries Falcons Over Bucs

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Five home runs and 12 total hits carried the Air Force Falcons to victory over the Charleston Southern baseball team on Friday, winning by a 12-4 score at Nielson Field.

Neither team scored until the top of the third inning, when the Bucs (3-7) made their first error of the night, dropping a pop up. The first two runs scored off of a wild pitch to make it 2-0, and the third run scored on a single through the left side. All three runs were unearned.

The Falcons made it 4-0 with their first home run of the night, but the Bucs cut the lead to just one, when Chandler Tuupo hit a three-run home run over the right field fence to make it 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Air Force got all three of those runs back in the top of the fifth inning, chasing Evan Pruitt out of the game. The Falcons hit back-to-back-to-back home runs to make it 7-3. The Bucs answered with an RBI single by Jaylin Rae, who scored Ashton Wilson.

The Falcons broke the game wide open in the seventh and eighth inning with five runs in combined. With two outs, they got an RBI single, and the next batter hit a three-run home run. In the eighth, a sac fly made it 12-4.

Pruitt fell to 0-2 for the season with the loss. He gave up 7 runs (4 earned) on 8 hits, 1 walk and 6 strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched. Jared Restmeyer pitched the final 2.0 innings, allowing 1 run on 1 hit and striking out a batter.

Next Up

The Bucs look to bounce back tomorrow at 1:30, as Michigan State comes to Nielson Field for an afternoon matchup. The game starts at 1:30 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+.