Offense ruled the day Wednesday at Falcon Field, but it was the pitching and strikeouts that gave Air Force an advantage in the early going of the baseball team’s second home game and first home win of 2023.

Air Force prevailed over visiting Kansas State 18-13 in a slugfest that featured a combined 31 runs to go with 36 hits. The Falcons began the scoring in the bottom of the first and never looked back. But the team’s performance was buoyed by senior right-handed pitcher Jake Sansing, who got his third start of the season.

Through two innings, Sansing recorded three strike outs on seven at bats, allowing no runs and one hit.

“Today was a start that we needed from him, just to go a couple innings, because we have to have him ready for our weekend series. But you tip your hat to (Sansing),” Air Force head coach Mike Kazlausky said. “You go out here with the wind blowing 30 miles an hour and give us a couple zeros to start off the game and put us in a good advantage for later on in the game.”

A pitcher out of Parker, Sansing attended Legend High School were he was originally recruited to attend the Air Force Academy but the plans fell through, he said. Instead, in 2019 and 2020, he took a two-year detour at Southern Mountain Community College, a junior college program, during which he went 8-0 on the mound.

Kazlausky gave him a call after, Sansing said. He made five appearances for the Falcons his sophomore year in 2021 and 13 appearances as a junior last season.

Now, in his final year of eligibility, Sansing is making the most of his opportunity and has become a steady presence for the Falcons, who had already played 24 games prior to Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s opening home stand.

The pitcher leads the team with a 3.33 ERA. And he is third on the team with 24 strikeouts. The best part is, he gets to play in his home state in front of mom.

“My mom got to come down. It’s Wednesday so it’s a little hard for work today, but she made her way down and it means a lot, especially this being my last year of eligibility,” he said.

“I grew up around the Academy, knew about it a bunch so it means a lot playing here,” Sansing contiued. “(It’s) good for my parents too, they get to come watch me all the time, a lot my friends in the area, a lot of my friends on the team I played in high school with ... Colorado’s always a tough place to pitch, but I love it.”

Colorado was an especially tough place to pitch Wednesday. After the Falcons built a 1-0 lead through the first two innings, Kansas State got on the board scoring in the top of the third. The Falcons responded with five runs in the bottom to move back ahead.

The Falcons took a 10-2 advantage into the sixth, but surrendered five runs as the Wildcats’ bats woke up at the top of the inning. Kansas State got a come-frombehind victory Tuesday but that wouldn’t be the case Wednesday as Air Force responded in the bottom of the sixth with five runs of its own, courtesy of an RBI double from outfielder Chris Stallings who then scored on an error, on a single from pinch hitter Charlie Jones, a fielder’s choice RBI from first baseman Sam Kulasingam, and a pair of RBI singles from outfielder Matt Thompson and designated hitter Jake Greiving.

The Wildcats struck again in the seventh with three runs but Air Force maintained its eight-run lead matching runs in the bottom of the inning.

Freshman pitcher Joey Collier closed out the game for Air Force with pair of strikeouts.

The Falcons had 22 hits on the day as Greiving led the way with four RBI. Kulasingam added another three RBI. And it was a massive outing for junior third baseman Jay Thomason, who went 3 for 4 from the plate with three RBIS, including a two-run homer in the fifth. “They’d punch us in the face and then we’d get back off the mat and we’d punch them in the face. It felt like Rocky vs. Creed,” Kazlausky said of the game. “We played so many games on the road and then you get back home to Falcon Field and it’s just a rejuvenation for our guys and the confidence level goes up.”