3/18/2005 - Baseball
Baseball to Play Host to Boston College this Weekend

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Notes (Boston College)

Leading Off For Navy...
Games #14-16 - Boston College

Who: Boston College (8-6) at Navy (3-9-1)
Sat., March 19, 12 p.m.
Boston College (8-6) at Navy (3-9-1)
Sat., March 19, 3:30 p.m.
Boston College (8-6) at Navy (3-9-1)
Sun., March 20, 12 p.m.

What: Navy's 2005 home opener

Where: Max Bishop Stadium (5,000); Annapolis, Md.

Coaches: Navy -- Steve Whitmyer (97-142-2 in his sixth season overall;
82-119-2 in his fifth season at Navy)
Boston College -- Peter Hughes (245-182-1 in his ninth season overall;
193-142-1 in his seventh season at Boston College)

Quick Hits
* Navy and Boston College have met four times previously with the Eagles owning a 3-1 series lead. The teams have not met since 1936.
* Navy enters its 60th season playing at Max Bishop Stadium. The Mids, who have posted winning records at home in 39 of the past 40 seasons, have compiled an all-time record of 715-255-14 in the friendly confines of Max Bishop Stadium.
* The Mids went 7-13 at home during the 2004 campaign.
* Navy is 0-0-1 versus Big East teams this season. The Mids overcame an 8-0 deficit to force a 10-10 tie versus Villanova at the Savannah State Tournament back on Feb. 20.
* Boston College is 2-0 versus the Patriot League this season, as it has handed Lafayette a pair of losses by scores of 5-1 and 6-5, respectively, during it's spring break to Florida.
* The Midshipmen are riding a six-game losing streak following back-to-back wins over Air Force and Indiana.

About Boston College
Boston College (8-6) has won eight of its last nine games after opening the season with five-consecutive losses. Tom Mackor (.462) and Jason Delaney (.426) are both batting over .400 for BC, as six Eagles are hitting over .300. Jared McGuire is batting .380 with a team-leading three home runs and 15 runs batted in. On the pitching side, Joe Martinez, Mike Wlodarczyk and Kevin Boggan lead the team with two wins each.

Last Time Out Versus The Eagles
Boston College handed Navy a 10-6 defeat back on April 11, 1936 in Annapolis.

Massachusetts Ties
Two members of the Navy baseball team hail from the state of Massachusetts. The two midshipmen are sophomores Daniel Kovalcik (Westwood) and Burgess Nichols (Boston).

Two-Out Magic
Navy, as a team, has collected 32 of its 56 RBIs with two outs. The Mids are batting .308
(53-for-172) in those situations.

200 Games For Whitmyer At Navy
Head coach Steve Whitmyer coached in his 200th at Navy during the first game of the doubleheader versus East Carolina on March 12. Whitmyer is 82-119-2 in his 203 games on The Yard.

Whitmyer Moving In On 100 Career Wins
Navy head coach Steve Whitmyer is three wins shy of 100 victories for his career. He is 97-142-2 during his six-year career, including an 82-115-2 mark in his five seasons in Annapolis.
Navy Baseball Head Coaches With 100 Career Wins
Name Years Career Record
1. Joe Duff 1962-93 595-332-11
2. Max Bishop 1937-61 317-161-7
3. Bob MacDonald 1994-00 178-152-3

First Inning Scoring
Navy's opponents have scored in the first inning in each of the last four games after the Mids had held the opposition scoreless in the opening frame the previous four contests.

Runners On, Bases Empty
Navy, as a team, is batting .429 (9-for-21) with the bases loaded, while hitting just .227 (53-for-233) with the bases empty.

Welcome Back Captain
Navy welcomed back senior captain Trevor Thompson versus Duke following a three-week layoff with an ankle injury. Thompson appeared as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning and delivered an RBI single to left field. Thompson has been effective in his brief time at the plate this season by going 3-for-4 (.750) with four RBIs.

Home Run
Jonathan-Matthew Johnston's 344-foot blast in the first game of last Saturday's doubleheader versus East Carolina was the first one hit by a midshipman this season. Navy's previous home run came on a grand slam by Craig Candeto in the 2004 season finale at George Mason. The homer was also the first of Johnston's career.

Eight & Counting
Freshman Mitch Harris is currently riding an eight-game hitting streak, which is the longest on the team this season. Harris added to the streak versus Duke with a 3-for-4 performance with an RBI.

Munde Producing At The Plate
Jared Munde has recorded a hit in 11 of 13 games this season and has driven in a run in eight of those contests. Both marks are tops on the team.

Johnston Earns National Recognition
Navy junior catcher Jonathan-Matthew Johnston was named to the College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll March 9 for his performance at the 2005 Service Academies Spring Classic on Feb. 25-27. Johnston helped lead Navy to a 2-1 record at the Classic, as the Mids tied three other teams for the best record in the tournament. He batted .385 with three doubles and five runs batted in during the three games, including a 2-for-5 effort with four RBIs in Navy's 6-5, 12-inning win over Indiana on the tournament's final day. Johnston was one of just four catchers named to the list of 29 players honored.

Johnston Named Patriot League Player of the Week
Johnston was named the Patriot League Player of the Week (March 1) for his performance in the 2005 Service Academies Spring Classic in Millington, Tenn. (Feb. 25-27). In the three-game tournament, Johnston went 5-for-12 (.417) with five RBIs, three doubles and a run scored. He capped the tournament with a four-RBI performance in Navy's 6-5 win in 12 innings over Indiana.

Career High For RBIs In A Season...ALREADY!
Johnston has already set a career high for RBIs in a season with 11. Johnston, who turned the trick in just six games in 2005, drove in a pair of runs during his freshman season and totaled seven in 2004. Johnston set the mark with a four RBI performance in Navy's 6-5 win in 12 innings over Indiana on Feb. 27.

KKKKKKKK
Navy pitchers have combined to record at least eight strikeouts in eight of 13 games this season.

Other Quick Pitching Notes
* Left-handed batters are 0-for-6 against Navy starter Daniel Kovalcik this season.
* Opposing hitters are batting just .188 in 16 at-bats versus freshman hurler Mark Guadagnini.
* Navy pitchers have allowed opponents to produce double-digit hits in 11 of 13 games.
* Opposing hitters are batting .482 (54-for-112) when leading off an inning.

Six Mids Batting Over .300
Six midshipmen are batting over .300 heading into this weekend's game. The six include Trevor Thompson (.750), Lewis Hobbs (.375), Jonathan-Matthew Johnston (.362), Mitch Harris (.360), D.J. Faldowski (.321) and Jared Munde (.308).

Other Quick Batting Notes
* Navy pinch hitters are batting .375 (6-for-16).
* Navy leadoff hitters are batting .345 (41-for-119) leading off an inning.
* Nine of Jonathan-Matthew Johnston's 11 RBIs have come with two outs.
* Freshman Mitch Harris is batting 7-for-19 (.368) with four RBIs with two outs.

Tournament Play
The Midshipmen opened their 2005 season with the first seven games coming in tournament play. Navy went 3-3-1 in the seven games, including a 1-2-1 mark in the Savannah State Invitational (Feb. 19-20) and a 2-1 record in the Service Academies Spring Classic (Feb.25-27).

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

Double-Digit Runs
Navy has equaled its number of double-digit run games in 2005 (2) that it produced during all of the 2004 season. It took the Midshipmen only three games to turn the trick in 2005.

Recapping The East Carolina and Duke Series
* Navy fell to 0-6 all-time versus East Carolina, with four of those losses coming by a run each time.
* The Mids allowed a run in the first inning in each of the four games played versus ECU and Duke.
* Navy committed a total of 12 errors in the four games.

Recapping The VMI Series
VMI's two wins over Navy were its first victories over the Mids in the program's history ... Navy committed four errors in its 4-0 loss in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader ... the Midshipmen jumped out to a 5-0 lead midway through the third inning of the second game, but the Keydets pushed nine runs across the plate over the following three innings to take the lead for good in their 18-5 win ... freshman Renaldo Hollins collected the first RBIs of his collegiate career as he drove in a pair of runs in the second game ... sophomore J.P. Temperilli went 2-for-4 with an RBI, double and triple in the second game.

Recapping The Service Academies Classic
Navy tied with four other teams for the best record (2-1) at the Service Academies Spring Classic ... the Midshipmen's win over Air Force was just their fifth one in 16 tries versus the Falcons. Navy's last victory over Air Force was a 2-1 decision back in the 1998 season ... the win over Air Force also snapped Navy's five-game losing streak in the Classic ... Navy's 12th-inning 6-5 win over Indiana was the Mids first win over a Big Ten team since the 2000 season when they knocked off Ohio State, 4-3. It was also Navy's first win over the Hoosiers in three tries all-time ... the extra-inning victory was also the first for Navy in a regular nine-inning game contest since April 29, 2002, when it defeated Lehigh 8-7 in 11 frames ... Catcher Jonathan-Matthew Johnston and shortstop Thomas Hamilton were named to the All-Tournament team.

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.

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)
* Mini-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.

Navy Adds Jason Ronai to Coaching Staff
Jason Ronai was added to the Navy baseball coaching staff during the 2004 fall practice. A Springfield, Ohio, native, Ronai was a four-year starter at UNC-Asheville. Ronai 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). Ronai then 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.

Major Conference )pponents
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.

Next Up
Navy will play host to Buffalo in a three-game series next weekend at Max Bishop Stadium. The two teams will play a doubleheader beginning at noon on Saturday and then conclude the series with the finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.

2005 Honors
National
Jonathan-Matthew Johnston (C)
*College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll (March 9)

Patriot League
Jonathan-Matthew Johnston (C)
*Player of the Week (March 1)

Tournaments
Jonathan-Matthew Johnston (C)
*2005 Service Academies Spring Classic All-Tournament Team

Thomas Hamilton (SS)
*2005 Service Academies Spring Classic All-Tournament Team