Falcon baseball will travel to Texas for a three-game series against Baylor from March 6-8 at Magnolia Field at Baylor Ballpark. The games are scheduled for Friday at 6:30 p.m. CT, Saturday at 2:00 p.m. CT, and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. CT.
The Falcons, with a current record of 3-8, will face Baylor in what is only the third meeting between the two programs. The last matchups occurred in a doubleheader on March 4, 1972, with Baylor winning both games by scores of 4-1 and 2-1.
Probable starters for Air Force include Tripp Garrish as designated hitter, Walker Zapp as catcher, Landon Boyd at third base, Christian Taylor in left field, Wyatt Hanoian at second base, Luke Elmore at first base, Ben Niednagel as shortstop, Kayden Bradshaw in center field, and Blake Campbell in right field.
Pitching matchups are set with Gaines Estridge starting Friday against Lucas Davenport of Baylor. On Saturday Josh Holst will face Cade Hansen and on Sunday Bowen Brantingham is scheduled to pitch against Ethan Calder.
Within the Mountain West Conference standings this season so far, Air Force ranks fifth in team batting average (.261), ninth in pitching (6.87 ERA), and seventh in fielding percentage (.957). Individually, Kayden Bradshaw is tenth in batting average (.394) and ninth in on-base percentage (.500). Walker Zapp is third with sixteen RBIs while Ben Niednagel leads the conference with four sacrifice bunts and is second with five stolen bases.
Senior catcher Walker Zapp returns to the lineup after notable performances last season where he batted .330 with seven home runs. He was selected for the 2026 Mountain West Preseason All-Conference team and named #44 backstop nationally by D1 Baseball. This year he achieved a career-high seven RBIs against DBU on February 27.
C1C Ben Niednagel has been named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watchlist for top collegiate shortstops nationwide. He holds a .324 batting average and has not committed an error through eleven games this season.
On the mound for Air Force are experienced pitchers including Gaines Estridge who delivered strong outings early this season; freshman Josh Holst; Bowen Brantingham; reliever Patrick Davidson who led last year’s team in wins and saves; LHP Sam Hentges; and Marcus Downing who currently holds an ERA of 1.13 over eight innings pitched.
Baylor enters the series following a narrow loss to Tarleton State but earlier secured an extra-inning win over #11 Ole Miss during the Bruce Bolt Classic this year. Tyce Armstrong leads their offense with twenty-one RBIs despite a .283 batting average.
Media coverage includes live broadcasts on ESPN+ along with live stats via StatBroadcast and updates through @AF_Baseball on Twitter.
