Friday, March 04, 2005

Bradenton, Fla. - Kevin Perri and Brian Rzepka had three hits each, but Valpo was defeated by Air Force 10-4 in Bradenton, Fla. Mike Arensdorff and Kevin Kutansky added two hits each for the Crusaders (1-5).

Valpo, which finished with 13 hits, led 2-0 after scoring two runs in the second inning. John Giusti earned a one-out walk, stole second and scored on Perri's double down the left field line.

After Air Force's Geno Salazar and Reid Lamson hit solo homers to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the third, the Crusaders regained a 3-2 lead on Jon Rupno' RBI single in the bottom of the frame, scoring Jeff Rickert who had singled.

The Falcons (4-9) broke the game open with a four-run fourth and a three-run fifth to take a 9-3 advantage. Nathan DeRohan's two-run shot in the fifth was the key hit.

Air Force extended its lead to 10-3 with a tally in the seventh. Rickert's RBI groundout in the ninth closed out the scoring.

Harvey Yergin (0-2) started on the mound for Valpo, allowing nine earned runs on 13 hits in 7 innings. The sophomore struck out eight and walked none.

Travis Fugler (2-2) earned the victory, allowing three runs on eight hits, while fanning six and walking two. Mitch Brown hurled four innings for his first save.

Air Force finished with 15 hits and committed three errors. The Crusaders did not commit an error. Kutansky had two doubles.

Valpo will play Sunday against Lehigh at 2:30 p.m. in Bradenton.