Air Force began its 2026 baseball season with a commanding 15-3 win over Penn State at Goodyear Stadium in Arizona. The Falcons collected 14 hits and drove in 10 RBIs, holding the Nittany Lions to four hits during the game. This victory marks Air Force’s first opening day win since 2020.
Pitcher Gaines Estridge earned his third career win, throwing six innings without allowing a run and matching his personal best of four strikeouts. Aiden Poe made his collegiate debut in the seventh inning, giving up three runs, while Marcus Downing closed out the eighth with a scoreless performance.
Luke Elmore led Air Force offensively with four hits and four RBIs. Kayden Bradshaw and Wyatt Hanoian contributed two RBIs each. Freshman Brooks Burdine recorded his first collegiate hit and later scored the team’s first run of the season.
The Falcons broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning, taking a 3-0 lead after capitalizing on walks, bunts, singles, and Penn State errors. Estridge then retired the side in order in the bottom half of that frame.
In subsequent innings, Air Force continued to build its lead through timely hitting and additional Penn State errors. By the end of the fifth inning, they led 6-0. In the sixth, Elmore doubled to drive in two more runs for an 8-0 advantage.
The seventh inning saw Air Force increase their lead to 11-0 before Penn State responded with three runs of their own. However, Air Force secured a run-rule victory by scoring four times in the eighth inning on contributions from Ben Niednagel, T.J. Oster, Tripp Garrish, Hanoian, Taylor, and Burdine.
Air Force will continue play at the MLB Desert Invitational against Iowa on Saturday at Salt River Fields. The game is scheduled for broadcast on MLB Network.
Iowa enters this matchup following a previous season where it finished with a record of 33 wins, 22 losses, and one tie overall—including a strong conference showing—and ended its year after falling to UCLA in the semifinals of its tournament.
