2/22/2002 - Baseball
Mids Split At Service Academies Classic
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MILLINGTON, Tenn.-Craig Candeto's fielders choice grounder with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the ninth gave Navy a come from behind win over Villanova, 6-5, in the first game of the Service Academies Classic. The Mids lost to Air Force, 11-9, in game two.
Navy trailed Villanova 3-0 and 5-2 before rallying in the final three innings. The Mids started their rally in the seventh when Dean Farmer blasted a two-out, two-run homer to make it 5-4.
The Mids tied the game in the eighth when, with one out, Chris Ashinhurst struck out but reached first safely as James Russell's pitch eluded catcher Greg Fater. Ashinhurst took second on a wild pitch and came around to score on a single to center by Dave Woolsey.
While the Navy offense was rallying, the bullpen was shutting down the Wildcats. Ryan Naquin pitched one scoreless inning, while former catcher Mitch Eliason, making his first career appearance on the mound, shut the Wildcats out over 2 1/3 innings.
Jason Guidos led off the Navy ninth with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. After Matt Lukevics walked, John Cocca laid down a perfect bunt for a single to load the bases with nobody out. Farmer struck out for the first out of the inning, but Candeto's ground ball to short was good enough to score Guidos with the go-ahead run.
Eliason picked up the win, while Steve Goocey earned his first save of the year, pitching a scoreless 2/3 of an inning.
"We did a great job in the late innings coming back," said Navy head coach Steve Whitmyer. "They had a great starting pitcher in Brian Slocum, he is one of the best in the country, but they gave us the opportunity to win it late and we took advantage. Our bullpen did a sensational job."
In game two, Air Force (7-4) jumped out to a 10-2 lead through seven innings and held on to beat Navy, 11-9. The Mids were hurt by three errors that led to eight unearned runs.
Navy made it interesting in the ninth when Candeto and Matt Foster hit two-run homers, but the Mids never could get the tying run to the plate.
Rich McDevitt took the loss, giving up six runs, just two earned, on seven hits. He walked one and struck out one. Tom Gritter gave up four unearned runs in two innings of work, while Jimmy Lamz gave up one run on two hits in one inning.
Cocca joined Candeto and Foster with two runs batted in, hitting a solo homer in the third and hitting a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
"The errors killed us," said Whitmyer. "Eight unearned runs on three errors is unbelievable, give them credit for taking advantage of our mistakes. They deserved to win the game. The encouraging thing is that we started to have some guys swing the bats late in the game and hopefully that will carry over to tomorrow."
Navy, 2-6 on the year, will play Memphis tomorrow evening at 5 p.m. Whitmyer will send senior right hander Brian Pennell (0-1, 5.00 ERA) to the mound. Whitmyer also announced that junior lefty Matt Foster (0-1, 0.93 ERA) will have to miss at least one start with soreness in his rotator cuff.
