Air Force baseball lost both games in a doubleheader on Friday at Horner Ballpark in Dallas, falling to Oral Roberts 6-3 and Dallas Baptist 15-11. The Falcons recorded 17 hits and struck out 11 times across the two contests.
In the first game against Oral Roberts, Air Force managed six hits. Runs were driven in by Walker Zapp, Kayden Bradshaw, and J.D. Wolff. Starting pitcher Gaines Estridge worked into the sixth inning, allowing five runs with one walk and one strikeout while retiring nine consecutive batters during a stretch of his outing. Gunner Gilmore came out of the bullpen to pitch 2.1 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
Oral Roberts scored first but Air Force tied it up in the fifth when Luke Elmore walked and later scored on Bradshaw’s two-out RBI double. Oral Roberts then put up four runs in the sixth inning to take a commanding lead before Gilmore entered to halt further scoring that frame. In the seventh, sacrifice flies from Wolff and Zapp brought Air Force within two runs, but an insurance run by Oral Roberts in the ninth set the final margin at 6-3.
In their second matchup of the day against Dallas Baptist, Walker Zapp led Air Force offensively with a grand slam and a three-run home run for seven RBIs—both career highs for him. Landon Boyd added a solo home run while Elmore and Bradshaw each drove in a run.
Seven pitchers took the mound for Air Force during eight innings. Starter Josh Holst was charged with his second loss after giving up four earned runs on nine hits. The Falcons briefly led early but Dallas Baptist responded quickly to retake control of the game.
Boyd homered in the fifth inning for his third of the season, narrowing DBU’s lead to 6-3 before another rally in which Zapp hit his grand slam cut it to just one run at 8-7 in favor of DBU after six innings played. However, Dallas Baptist answered with six more runs in their half of that inning.
Air Force continued battling back with four more runs—including Zapp’s second homer—in the seventh inning but could not close the gap further as DBU secured victory by a final score of 15-11.
Sam Hentges made his season debut pitching a scoreless seventh for Air Force while Patrick Davidson finished out on the mound despite surrendering DBU’s last run.
The Falcons are scheduled to play another game against Dallas Baptist on Sunday, March 1 at Horner Ballpark.
