Midshipmen Win Season Opener, Tie Second Game of Doubleheader

Feb. 5, 2006

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Sophomore Mitch Harris (Mt. Holly, N.C.) went 3-for-6 at the plate with a double, triple and home run in addition to four solid innings on the mound as the Navy baseball team won its season opener 8-2 against Coppin State before tying the Eagles 8-8 in 11 innings during the nightcap of the doubleheader. The second game of the doubleheader was called due to darkness.

Sunday's season opening doubleheader marked the earliest start in Navy baseball's 111-year program history and only the second-time the Midshipmen have played a home game in the month of February.

"We really got a lot to coach off of today," stated head coach Paul Kostacopoulos after his first games at the helm with Navy. "A lot of scenarios came up today. As a result, we have a lot to work on and discuss this week. This was great for both teams and I am really happy with all of the tight situations."

Harris started and picked up his first-career win in the front end of the doubleheader. Harris fanned the first-six batters he faced en route to his eight-strikeout performance. The sophomore yielded only two hits, one walk and a run in throwing 63 pitches on Sunday.

Harris helped his own cause at the plate in game one, going 2-for-2 with four runs batted in. Harris doubled home sophomore Thomas Hamilton (Houston, Texas) to spark eight unanswered Navy runs and knot the contest at one in the fourth inning. The sophomore highlighted a five-run fifth inning with a three-run home run down the right field line to put the hosts up 8-1.

Freshman Jack Ferrick (Stafford, Va.) blasted a pinch-hit home run to right-center field in his first-career at bat during the fourth inning of the first game. Sophomore Renaldo Hollins (Virginia Beach, Va.) added with a multi-hit effort, going 2-for-4 with a stolen base in the win.

"We did what we had to do to win the first game," said Kostacopoulos. "We capitalized on their mistakes and did a good job turning them into runs. Our team also did a nice job getting out of jams and answer right back. Mitch was great; he really threw the ball well out there. We played some pretty solid baseball."

In the nightcap of the doubleheader, Navy jumped out to a 1-0 lead after one inning of play. However, Coppin State responded with four runs on three walks and two hits in the top of the second inning.

The Midshipmen scored six unanswered runs over the next two innings to establish a 7-4 lead. Senior Jonathan Johnston (Hamilton Township, N.J.) and Hamilton smacked back-to-back triples to tie the game at four in the second inning. One inning later, senior Ryan McGinn (Arvada, Colo.) delivered an RBI triple, followed by a Ferrick RBI single and junior Dominic Lopez (Quincy, Mich.) sacrifice fly to push the hosts ahead by three.

The Midshipmen lead would evaporate in the top of the fourth inning, as the Eagles strung together four-straight hits and plated three runs to even the score at seven. Navy immediately answered in the bottom half of the inning as Harris tripled and scored on a balk to put the Mids up 8-7.

Navy's lead would remain intact until the seventh inning. After junior Daniel Kovalcik (Westwood, Mass.) retired the first-two batters, he surrendered a walk and a hit batsman to put runners on first and second. The Midshipmen called upon sophomore Mark McCoy (Parkland, Fla.), but Paul Conway delivered a single that scored the tying run and force extra innings.

Navy had two opportunities with the bases loaded during extra innings, but could not plate the winning run. The Midshipmen used three walks, two of which were intentional, in the eighth inning with two outs, but Coppin State reliever Jesus Melendez produced the strikeout to keep the game going. The Mids had another chance in the 10th inning, as Johnston tripled for the second time in the game, and two walks later, loaded the bases. For the second time in the game, Melendez worked his way out of the jam with a groundout to push the contest to an 11th inning.

Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the 11th inning before the game was called due to darkness.

"We had numerous offensive chances in the second game," commented Kostacopoulos. "We just did not do enough on the offensive end to win the game."

Five of Navy's 13 hits went for triples in the nightcap of the doubleheader. The five triples topped the previous program record of four at Bucknell on May 10, 2003.

Johnston and Hamilton each registered three hits hitting in the second and third spots in the order, respectively. Senior Jared Munde (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.) and McGinn also delivered multi-hit efforts on the back-end of the doubleheader.

Freshman Matt White (Yorba Linda, Calif.) went 1.1 innings in his first-collegiate start. White allowed only one hit, but walked four in yielding three runs.

Senior Joe Koessler (Knoxville, Tenn.) provided a strong performance out of the bullpen during the extra innings, allowing only one hit and no walks over four innings. Koessler also fanned five Eagles hitters in his 50th career appearance.

Hamilton went 4-for-9 with a double and a triple in the doubleheader. Johnston produced a 3-for-8 effort at the plate during both games, in addition to handling a pitching staff that struck out 20 batters in 18 innings of catching.

"Jonathan (Johnston) was awesome in his 18 innings behind the plate," Kostacopoulos stated. "He controlled their running game and did a great job handling all of the bunts today. Koessler also stepped up and did really well on the mound in the second game."

Navy begins a 10-game road stretch over the following month, beginning with a three-game set in Tallahassee, Fla., against Florida A&M on Feb. 11-12. The Midshipmen and Rattlers will play a doubleheader on Saturday then the two teams round out the series with a single game on Sunday.

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