Things are probably going well when a team can get six RBIs from the 9-hole hitter. And sure enough, everything was right with Air Force baseball on Thursday.

The third-seeded Falcons pounded No. 6 UNLV 17-2 in the opening round of the Mountain West tournament, advancing past a single-elimination play-in round as one of four teams in the double-elimination portion of the event.

The Falcons will play No. 2 Washington State at 7:05 p.m. Friday at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz.

Air Force had featured the highest-scoring offense through the conference regular-season and brought every bit of that and more into Thursday’s postseason opener. It scored in every inning and third baseman Landon Boyd, batting ninth, hit two of the team’s three-run home runs.

The Falcons had 14 hits, drew seven walks and stole 10 bases.

The Falcons went 5-0 vs. UNLV this season and scored at least 15 runs in each game.

On the mound, Richard Rutledge III and Gaines Estridge each threw three innings, giving up only one combined run (charged to Estridge). Davis Rhyne then gave up a run as he finished the game in the seventh inning.

Air Force (26-26) went 1-2 vs. Washington State (27-25) this year – the only team to top the Falcons at home. In the last meeting between the teams Air Force scored five runs in the ninth to finish a 10-9 walk-off thriller in the home finale.

NOTE

Air Force freshman Wyatt Hanoian was named Mountain West Freshman of the Year on Tuesday. Hanoian hit .354 in 50 games with a .498 on-base percentage. In 24 conference games the second baseman’s figures jumped to .421 and .535 and he drove in 25 runs with 14 extra-base hits in 22 games. … Hanoian was the lone Falcon named to the All-Mountain West First Team, while shortstop Ben Niednagel and catcher Walker Zapp earned second-team recognition.