PROVO, Utah – Air Force starter Ryan Stohr struck out five and surrendered just one hit over 7.0 scoreless innings of work on his way to leading the Falcons to a 9-0 shutout victory over Utah Valley in the first of two midweek games at BYU's Larry H. Miller Field in Provo on Tuesday night.
 
Stohr, Shawn Kelley and Max Graves combined to throw a one-hit shutout for AFA (6-12) on the night. The trio of Falcons combined to strike out seven Wolverines (5-13) in the ballgame en route to recording the non-conference shutout win. 
 
The two teams will conclude the two-game midweek series with an 11 a.m. MT contest at BYU's Miller Park in Provo on Wednesday morning. The ballgame will feature free admission. 
 
The Falcons struck first with a trio of runs in the second to take a 3-0 lead. A trio of UVU errors aided AFA's early rally, as all three runs were unearned in the frame. 
 
Air Force then tacked on another run in the third to make it 4-0. Cayden Zimmerman got things going in the inning with a one-out single and promptly stole second to get into scoring position. Alexander Pup then drove him home with an RBI single to center to give the Falcons the four-run cushion. 
 
AFA then broke in open in the fifth with three more runs to extend its lead to 7-0. Christian Gambale delivered the big blow in the inning with a two-run homer to left center. 
 
With Air Force's starter Stohr looking strong on the mound, UVU then threatened for the first time with a one-out walk from Kade Poulsen and a balk from Stohr to move Poulsen into scoring position in the last of the fifth. With two outs, Jake Berry then produced UVU's lone hit of game with a sharp single up the middle but AFA's Ashton Easley delivered a strike to the plate to cut down Poulsen trying to score to keep it a 7-0 game. 
 
UVU then got a baserunner to third with two outs in the sixth in Jake Plecas, but AFA's Stohr responded by drawing a groundout off the bat of Alexander Marco to end the threat. 
 
The Wolverines got a baserunner on in both the seventh and ninth innings but couldn't manage to get either in, as the trio of Falcon pitchers went on to record the shutout.
 
Stohr improves to 1-2 on the year with the victory, while UVU starter Romeo Carrillo falls to 0-2 with the loss. Both Max Kendall and Matt Dalke pitched well for the Wolverines in the late innings, as the freshman Kendall struck out four and gave up just one hit and one run over 2.2 innings in his first collegiate appearance while the senior Dalke struck out a pair and allowed just one hit and one run over the final inning and third. 
 
The senior Berry led UVU at the plate in the game by going 1-for-3 with the lone hit for the Wolverines, while Plecas and Poulsen both reached base twice in the contest with a pair of walks. Gambale led AFA by going a perfect 5-for-5 with four RBIs and two runs scored. 
 
With UVU's new doTERRA (turf) Field at UCCU Ballpark in the final stages of completion, the game midweek series was moved to BYU's Miller Park in Provo.