Air Force OOC Schedule for 2018
The Falcons have spent the last few years winning games by football scores. Most of those have been at home but their hitters are good enough to whack teams on the road. I have no idea, yet, how things will be this year but they play some fairly tough teams in the OOC part of their schedule. Read on
Hawaii – 4 in paradise
The Rainbows were a bit over .500 at 28-23 last year but a good portion of those losses were in-conference. The Big West is tough. The bows had a mediocre offense at .265 with only one .300 hitter but the pitching was outstanding at 3.58. Anything under 4.00 in college ball is good. This should be a good series with the Falcons hitting against the ‘Bows pitching. I always go with pitching. Thumbs up.
Navy – 3 on the road
The Middies were damn good last year at 37-17. Will that continue? Who knows as I haven’t checked on returning players yet. Even with that good record they did not make it to the NCAA Tournament. I suspect they got out because they lost their league tournament in a one-bid conference. They hit (.297) and pitched (3.99) well and that adds up to a record of 20 games over .500. I suspect some emotion in these games. Thumbs up.
Army – 1 on the road
The Black Knights. What a great name. Offense was not there last season as they hit a paltry .255. Pitching was about the same at 5.77. Results were as those stats would say; 25-31. Still, this is a service matchup and these grudges go deep. Thumbs up.
Dallas Baptist – 3 on the road
The Patriots were 42-21 and a Tournament tested team. I expect them to handle the Falcons in a rude way but one never knows. This team could hit and hit with pop as they sported three players with home runs in the double digits and one with 24. Yeah! Twenty four home runs. Think that draws interest from MLB? The team hit .299 overall. Pitching was only ok at 4.76 so this could be a slugfest. Thumbs up for taking on a very good baseball program.
South Dakota State – 2 at home
The Jack Rabbits were 18-12 in the Summit Conference and 26-24 overall. They are another snow belt team that spends the first month or so on the road. That their overall record was a winning speaks volumes. They were ok in hitting at .282 and pitching at 4.29. Yeah, that’s the ticket; they were an ok team. They will be tested at the Falcons’ home field. Thumbs up.
Northern Colorado – 3 games split
They are usually a bottom feeder in the WAC but made some pretty good strides last year. They are my “local” team but I’ve only seen them a few times. Just a little too far when SJS is not involved. I think they can hit a bit but pitching has been the big problem in the past. Yep, still true. They hit .278 but the team ERA was a bad 5.97. No starter sniffed an ERA close to 3.00. I still think this will be series where the Falcons should be able to take care of business. Thumbs up as this is a grudge match.
Utah Valley – 2 on the road
The Wolverines did not impress in 2017 as they were 18-36. Not good. So why might that be? Team BA .270 and team ERA 7.16. Any questions? I might add that they lose their best pitcher in closer Patrick Wolfe who had 11 saves and an ERA of 2.35. Yup, he held up his end of the bargain. Thumbs down.
Seattle – 2 on the road
The Red Hawks were a not very good 20-35-1 last year. The season before was a good one so they slipped last year. So, guess what? They didn’t hit (.269) and the same for pitching (5.97). That all figures. Oh, prepare for rain. Thumbs sideways.
CU-Colorado Springs – 1 on the road
Never heard of these guys? The Mountain Lions? Neither have I even though I have a friend who’s a professor there. This is a D11 school and I always support no more than two games with lower division teams especially if it’s a local grudge match as I suspect this one is. They’re less than an hour’s drive from one another. Worth seeing. They were an unspectacular 22-27 last season and were a fifth seed in the league’s tournament. They could hit (.307) but the pitching was certainly suspect at 6.46 and the best starter was in the 4.00 range. Oh, well, one game. Thumbs down.
Chicago State – 3 at home
Hard to get around this but, they were a bad team at 11-41 with seven of those wins in the WAC. I think they were cannon fodder. Couldn’t hit nor pitch and I’ll leave it at that. I’ve talked to their coach in the past and he’s always been more than helpful. I wish him luck but baseball has been rugged for this team. If you like football scores in baseball, this might be the series for you. Thumbs down.
Notice how this team starts out life in a hotel. First eleven games are on the road. You should be able to figure out why as the field could be under a foot of snow even through March. I’ve heard it could be a mild winter but things here change overnight (and sometimes by the hour) so we’ll see. Yep, snow belt teams, God love ‘em. With all of that being said, the Falcons certainly didn’t dodge tough teams. Hawaii is always tough at home even in down years. Navy has been pretty good the past few years. Dallas Baptist is beyond tough. Northern Colorado is a rivalry so all bets are off on those games. After these teams not a lot of reason to go see games just based on the opposition. CUCS I think is a lower division game and Chicago State has struggled for years. I’d still like to see a tougher schedule than this.