Scouting the Opposition

Air Force: The Falcons took a 2-5 record with them to West Palm Beach for the Papa John's Palm Beach Challenge. They were slated to open play Thursday against Maine, but the game was rained out. The team is batting .247 and is led by Nathan Carter’s .417 batting average. Of his 10 hits, he has three doubles and a triple while driving in five runs. Matt Alexander has a .385 batting average and has the team’s only home run. He paces the team with nine RBI and also has 10 hits, including a pair of doubles and a triple. The pitching staff has a 6.20 ERA. Alex Truesdale has made two starts and is 0-1 with 10 strikeouts and a 2.81 ERA in 16.0 innings. Michael Ruvolo has made four appearances and has a 0.93 ERA in 9.2 innings. Jake Petro leads the team with three starts, but has pitched 10.1 innings and shares the team lead with 10 strikeouts though has a 10.97 ERA. Air Force was 8-44 overall in 2007 and went winless in 23 Mountain West Conference games.

MAINE: The Black Bears are 4-5 and have lost five straight games after claiming a pair of doubleheaders at Delaware State to open the season. The team was swept in a three-game series at UNLV and is 0-2 on its current spring trip in south Florida, losing to Notre Dame and Florida International. A game vs. Air Force on Thursday was rained out. The team is batting .335 and is led by Curt Smith’s .487 average (19-for-39) and four home runs. He also has 10 RBI. Myckie Lugbauer is batting .474 and paces the squad with five doubles and 12 RBI. Joe Miller has made two starts and is 1-0 with an 0.75 ERA in 12.0 innings though has walked seven against six strikeouts. No other starter has an ERA lower than 4.91 on a staff that has a 7.07 collective ERA entering a split doubleheader between Air Force and Ohio State on Saturday. Maine compiled a 22-31 record for the 2007 season and went 12-11 to earn a fourth-place finish in the American East Conference.

CONNECTICUT: UConn has started its season 0-6 with losses to Missouri, Stetson, Michigan State and three to UNC-Greensboro. The Huskies will face Air Force on Saturday before squaring off against the Buckeyes on Sunday. Mike Oly leads the Huskies with a .409 average though the team is batting just .201. The team’s ERA is 6.75. The Huskies went 34-27 overall in 2007 and finished eighth in the Big East with a 10-14 record.

Check out the official Ohio State release entering the weekend.