2/23/2005 - Baseball
Baseball to Compete at Service Academies Classic this Weekend

Files associated with this release:
Notes (Games 5-7)

Leading Off For Navy...
Games #5-7 - Service Academies Spring Classic

Who: Navy (1-2-1) vs. Missouri (4-1)
**Fri., Feb. 25, 10 a.m.
Navy (1-2-1) vs. Air Force (3-5)
**Sat., Feb. 26, 10 a.m.
Navy (1-2-1) vs. Indiana (1-0)
**Sun., Feb. 27, 9 a.m.

What: Service Academies Spring Classic

Where: USA Stadium, Millington, Tenn.

Coaches: Navy -- Steve Whitmyer (95-139-2 in his sixth season overall;
80-112-2 in his fifth season at Navy)
Missouri -- Tim Jamieson (328-240-2 in his 11th season overall
and at Missouri)
Air Force -- Mike Hutcheon (248-194 in his 11th season overall;
9-54 in his second season at Air Force)
Indiana -- Bob Morgan (1045-556-6 in his 30th season overall;
757-469-4 in his 22nd season at Indiana)

Quick Hits
** Navy and Missouri are meeting for the first time. It's also just the second game all-time the Midshipmen will face a Big 12 opponent. The Mids lost to Nebraska back in the 1979 season.
** Navy trails the all-time series with Air Force, 4-11, as both teams last met during the 2004 Service Academies Classic. The Mids are 4-14-1 all-time against teams from the Mountain West Conference.
** Navy trails the all-time series with Indiana 0-2, as both teams last met during the 2004 Service Academies Classic. The Mids are 42-45-1 all-time against teams from the Big Ten.
** Navy is 0-1-1 at neutral sites this season.
** Navy lost all three games in the 2004 Service Academies Classic.
** Navy won the 2002 Service Acadmies Spring Classic championship.

About Missouri
Missouri is 4-1 following its first-five contests of the 2005 season. The Tigers went 3-1 in the Griffin/Pontiac Challenge last weekend at Rock Hill, S.C., after defeating Gardner-Webb, Winthrop and Akron. Missouri has scored 12, 10 and 11 runs, respectively, in three of its victories. Five Tigers are batting .400 or better and are led by junior outfielder Bryson LeBlanc, who is batting .500 with two runs batted in. Senior right-handed pitcher Erik Dessau leads the team in wins by posting a 2-0 record and 0.00 earned run average in 11 innings of work.

About Air Force
Air Force (3-5) has won two of its last three games after beginning the new campaign with a 1-4 mark. The Falcons are coming off a 16-14 win over North Dakota State last Sunday. They have allowed double-digit runs in four of their five losses this season. Senior outfielder Reid Lamson leads the team with a .435 batting average and has collected 10 hits and scored 11 runs. Sophomore first baseman has smacked a team-high four home runs and driven in 10 runs. Junior righthander Paul Pratt has the team's lowest earned run average at 8.53 and has gone 1-1 in 12 2/3 innings of work.

Last Time Out Versus The Falcons
Air Force handed Navy its second loss in the 2004 Service Academies Spring Classic with a 7-0 victory on Feb. 28. Matt Lukevics (2-for-4) collected two of Navy's three hits, while starting pitcher Ryan Hefner suffered the loss after giving up seven runs -- only three earned -- in six innings of work. Nathan DeRohan led Air Force at the plate by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

About Indiana
Indiana is 1-0 after a 5-0 win over Depauw Tuesday. The Hoosiers went 25-30 overall and just 9-22 in the Big Ten during the 2004 campaign. They stumbled near the end of the season and won just four of their final 20 games. Indiana is led by senior outfielder Joe Kemp, who started all 54 games last season while batting .317 with seven homers, 35 RBI and 43 runs scored. Junior righthander Josh Lewis returns on the mound for Indiana after posting a 3-7 record with 5.18 ERA last season.

Last Time Out Versus The Hoosiers
Indiana handed Navy a tough 5-4 loss in 11 innings in the final game of the 2004 Service Academies Classic on Feb. 29. The Mids rallied to score two runs with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie it at 4-4, but Indiana's Corby Heckman singled in Rashard Graves in the top of the 11th to give the Hoosiers the win.

Tennessee Ties
Junior left-handed pitcher Joe Koessler (Knoxville) and freshman right-handed pitcher Tripp North (Ooltewah) will be making their homecomings this weekend as they both hail from the state of Tennessee.

Looking To Snap Losing Streak At Service Academies Classic
Navy has lost four-straight games in the Service Academies Classic after defeating Villanova, 4-0, in the 2002 championship. The Midshipmen dropped an 8-1 decision to Arkansas (Feb. 21) in the first game of the 2003 Classic before rain cancelled the final two contests. Navy lost to Memphis (5-2), Air Force (7-0) and Indiana (5-4) in its three games during the 2004 Classic.

Tournament Play
The Midshipmen will open their 2005 season with the first seven games coming in tournament play. Navy went 1-2-1 in four games in the Savannah State Invitational last weekend and will play three in the Service Academies Spring Classic this weekend in Millington, Tenn.

Nine Mids Batting Over .300
Nine midshipmen are batting over .300 heading into the Service Acadmies Classic. The nine include Trevor Thompson (.667), Doug Silverman (.500), Jared Munde (.438), William Maugeri (.385), Jonathan-Matthew Johnston (.357), James Lee (.333), B.J. Bickel (.333), Mike Garcia (.333) and D.J. Faldowski (.300).

Lots Of Runs
Navy scored 34 runs in its first-three games of the Savannah State Invitational to open the 2005 season. The 34 runs scored are an exact opposite of how the Midshipmen opened the 2004 season when they pushed across just four runs in their opening three contests.

Double-Digit Runs
Navy has already equaled its number of double-digit run games in 2005 (2) that it produced during the 2004 season.

Multiple-Hit Games
The Midshipmen combined to produce seven multiple-hit games in four contests at the Savannah State Invitational last weekend after posting just 35 in 50 games last season. If Navy is to continue on its current pace, it would record 84 multi-hit games in 2005.

Recapping The Savannah State Invitational
** Navy snapped its five-game losing streak in season openers with its 17-8 win over Savannah State in game one of the doubleheader last Saturday.
** Freshman first baseman Mitch Harris turned in a fine collegiate debut by going 3-for-5 with a double, triple, three RBI and three runs scored in game one of the doubleheader against the Tigers.
** Three freshmen combined to drive in nine of Navy's 29 RBI in the four games. Thomas Hamilton drove in four runs, while Harris and William Maugeri drove in three and two runs, respectively.
** The Midshipmen exploded for 10 runs in the seventh inning of the first game against the Tigers to expand a slim 3-2 lead into a commanding 13-2 advantage.
** Doug Silverman collected two doubles and drove in three runs for Navy in the second game versus Savannah State.
** Jared Munde ripped a two-out, two-run double in the seventh inning to pull Navy into a 10-10 with Villanova before the Wildcats needed to call the game in the eighth due to prior travel arrangements.
** Virginia Tech pitchers combined to register 18 strikeouts in the Hokies' 9-0 win over Navy in the tournament's final game.

Navy Picked Fifth In The Patriot League
The Patriot League's coaches and sports information directors picked Navy to finish fifth according to the 2004-05 Preseason Patriot League Baseball Poll. The Mids posted a 14-36 overall record and a 7-13 league mark in 2004, and finished tied for fifth out of six teams in the league standings.

2005 Patriot League Preseason Poll
Place...School...Pts....2004 Record...2004 PL Record
1...Army (10)...50...37-15...17-3
2...Lehigh (2)...36...25-21...9-11
3...Holy Cross...28...14-22-1...9-11
4...Lafayette...26...23-26...11-9
5...Navy...22...14-36...7-13
6...Bucknell...18...20-24...7-13
(#) -- first-place votes

Senior Captain Trevor Thompson
Senior Trevor Thompson will serve as captain of the 2005 Navy baseball team. The Kent, Wash., native owns a career .255 batting average with two home runs and 16 RBI. Thompson, who can play all three outfield positions, was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in November.

Thompson Awarded Rhodes Scholarship
Navy baseball senior captain Trevor Thompson was one of three midshipmen to receive a Rhodes Scholarship, which was announced in November by a regional committee of the Rhodes Trust. The scholarship is a grant for American college students to attend the prestigious Oxford University in England. The 22-year-old Thompson intends to study economics and social history at Oxford.

Projects Thompson is a part of:
**1st Regimental Commander (there are two regiments of 2,000 midshipmen each at the Academy)
**Plebe Summer Company Commander (summer of 2004)
**2nd Battalion Sergeant Major (fall of 2003)
**ini-BUDS Screener Boat Crew Commander (November of 2003)
**Moderator at the Academy's foreign affairs conference
**Led a service program for students to travel to Nicaragua

New Faces
Twenty-one (21) freshmen appear on the 2005 Navy baseball roster. A total of 49 players comprise the squad with just five of those being seniors.

Returning All-Patriot League Performers
Navy welcomes the return of two First-Team All-Patriot League performers from the 2004 season. Junior Jared Munde (27 starts in 34 games) earned the honor as a first baseman last season after batting a team-high .356 (minimum 60 at-bats) with two home runs and 20 RBI. Sophomore Burgess Nichols garnered the league honor after going 2-0 with a team-leading 3.54 earned run average. Nichols also led the team with four saves while starting four games with one complete-game performance.

Navy Adds Jason Ronai To Coaching Staff
Navy baseball head coach Steve Whitmyer recently announced that Jason Ronai has been added to the coaching staff. A Springfield, Ohio, native, Ronai was a four-year starter at UNC-Asheville. Ronai, who earned four letters, was named the team MVP his junior season and captained the squad during his senior campaign. He graduated from UNC-Asheville in 2001, ranking second all-time in total hits and stolen bases. Ronai played one season of independent professional baseball (2002) for the Alexandria Aces of the Central League.During that time, he began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Indiana State (2001-02). His duties included working with hitters, outfielders and improving their baserunning. Ronai moved on and spent a year as the Director of Onfield Sessions for the recruiting service "Baseball Factory" in 2003. He was promoted to Director of The Exclusive Program in 2004, where he helped guide high school players through the recruiting process.

Navy To Face Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Navy will step onto the diamond March 2 and live the dream of a lifetime when it faces the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in an exhibition at Progress Energy Park in St. Petersburg, Fla. (1:05 p.m.). Navy is one of just seven NCAA Division I-A schools scheduled to face Major League Baseball teams this spring. The others include Miami, Fla. (vs. Florida, March 1); Georgia Tech (vs. Atlanta, March 2); Florida Atlantic (vs. St. Louis, March 2); Northeastern (vs. Boston, March 4); Boston College (vs. Boston, March 4); and San Diego State (vs. San Diego, March 30).

Major Conference Opponents
Navy will be prepared for Patriot League-play this season as it will face several teams from major conferences in the non-conference portion of its 2005 schedule. The Mids will face teams from the ACC (Duke and Virginia Tech), Big East (Boston College, Georgetown and Villanova), Big Ten (Indiana) and Big 12 (Missouri). In addition to those conferences, Navy will face East Carolina from Conference USA, Buffalo from the MAC and Air Force from the Mountain West Conference.

Making Sure It Doesn't Happen Again
The 2004 season was one of firsts for Navy in two categories. The Mids failed to qualify for the Patriot League tournament for the first time in school history after posting a 14-36 record and a 7-13 mark in league play. Navy also posted a losing record of 11-13 at home, marking the first time since 1964 (40 years) the Midshipmen had a losing record at home. Navy went 7-10 that season.

Next Up
The Midshipmen will face the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in an exhibition, Wednesday, March 2, at 1:05 p.m., at Progress Energy Park.

2005 Leaders (Top Three)
BATTING

Average
Trevor Thompson... .667
Doug Silverman... .500
Jared Munde... .438

At-bats
Mitch Harris... 17
Jared Munde... 16
Renaldo Hollins... 14

Hits
Jared Munde... 7
Mitch Harris... 5
Jonathan-Matthew Johnston... 5

Runs batted in
Jared Munde... 6
Jonathan-Matthew Johnston... 4
Thomas Hamilton... 4

Doubles
Doug Silverman... 3
William Maugeri... 2
Jared Munde... 1

Triples
Mitch Harris... 1

Slugging percentage
Doug Silverman... 1.000
Trevor Thompson... .667
William Maugeri... .538

On-base percentage
Jared Munde... .500
Doug Silverman... .500
Trevor Thompson... .500

PITCHING

Earned run average
Jeff Lange... 0.00
James Lee... 0.00
Mitch Harris... 0.00
Richard Lippincott... 0.00

Wins
Burgess Nichols... 1

Losses
Daniel Kovalcik... 1
Tom Van Dam... 1

Saves
Jeff Lange... 1

Appearances
Kevin Heasley... 2
Tom Van Dam... 2
Jeff Lange... 2

Innings pitched
Daniel Kovalcik... 4.1
Burgess Nichols... 4.0
Jeff Lange... 3.2

Strikeouts
James Lee... 4
Kevin Heasley... 4
Mark Guadagnini... 4

Opposing batting average
Mitch Harris... .000
Mark Guadagnini... .100
Kevin Heasley... .167
Jeff Lange... .167