April 16, 2007
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy freshman starting pitchers Oliver Drake (Gardner, Mass.) and Yale Eckert (La Selva Beach, Calif.) combined for 14.1 innings of work with 13 strikeouts as the Midshipmen completed a four-game series sweep of Lehigh during Monday's twinbill at Terwilliger Brother Field at Max Bishop Stadium in Annapolis, winning by scores of 7-2 and 8-3.
The Midshipmen improved to 28-12 on the year and 9-3 in Patriot League action. The 28 victories currently stand as the sixth-highest total during the program's 112-year history. The Mountain Hawks dropped to 11-22-1 overall and 1-11 in league play.
Navy's four-game sweep of Lehigh was its second of the 2007 Patriot League campaign, as the Midshipmen opened league action by taking all four games at Holy Cross on March 31-April 1. The only other team in school history to post a pair of four-game sweeps in league play during one season was the 1995 squad, who set the school record for wins (34) and went on to the NCAA East Region Championships.
Monday's doubleheader was moved to Annapolis after heavy rains involved with the strong Nor'easter that pounded the Mid-Atlantic region rendered Lehigh's home field, Murray H. Goodman Field, unplayable for Sunday and Monday. Both teams battled through some adverse conditions on Monday, as the winds were sustained at 30 mph and occasionally gusted over 50 mph.
"As I have said before, it's extremely difficult to win four games in a weekend," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "With the mental and physical toll to play win all four games, you have to be pleased.
"We are definitely getting better. You always hope that's the case going into the final part of the regular season. The younger guys are playing better and the older guys have stepped it up a level."
Drake battled through some tough innings early on to earn the victory in the opener and improved to 2-1 on the year. He scattered five hits and two runs, only one of which was earned, with two walks and a season-best seven strikeouts on the afternoon. The freshman right-hander faced only one batter over the minimum between the third and sixth innings.
"Oliver did a great job for us," said Kostacopoulos. "He wasn't quite on early, but he really settled in during that four-inning stretch between the third and the sixth. He really showed me something on the mound. We grabbed the lead and he wasn't going to let it go."
After Lehigh took an early 1-0 advantage in the first, Navy tied the ballgame at one in the second. Freshman Drew Lydon led off with a single and came home to score on sophomore Joshua Martinez's (Denver, Colo.) double down the left field line.
The score would remain tied at one in the fourth, until the Mids plated four runs off Lehigh starter Bill McDonnell. With two outs and nobody on, freshman Steven Soares (Coral Springs, Fla.) walked and senior B.J. Bickel (Benson, N.C.) was hit by a pitch. Junior Renaldo Hollins (Virginia Beach, Va.) singled in Soares to give the Mids their first lead of the game. After senior captain Michael Garcia (Kailua, Hawai'i) walked to load the bases, junior Mitch Harris (Mt. Holly, N.C.) delivered a bases-clearing double to the gap in right center.
The Mids extended their lead to 7-1 in the fifth with a pair of insurance runs. Martinez laced his second double of the game down the left field line to score Lydon, who reached with a single. Martinez moved to third on a groundout and came home on a wild pitch.
Martinez finished the opener 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Hollins, Harris and Lydon each produced a pair of base knocks. Martinez and Harris each hit two doubles for the Mids in game one.
In the nightcap, Eckert produced his best showing during his young collegiate career to improve to 3-0 in Patriot League action this season. The Navy southpaw hurled eight innings of six-hit baseball, as he walked only one and struck out a season-high six batters. Eckert yielded only two base hits and faced only two over the minimum over his final-five innings of the hill.
"Yale gave up six hits and they really didn't hit him hard," commented Kostacopoulos. "He pitched well and got out of some jams early on, especially during the third. He was getting stronger as the game went on, and I truly thought his better innings were from the fourth through the eighth."
Navy's offense staked Eckert an early 2-0 cushion after the opening half-inning of play. Harris singled in Garcia, who walked and advanced to second on a failed pickoff attempt, and would score one batter later, as junior Thomas Hamilton (Houston, Texas) singled through the left side.
However, Lehigh would take the lead in the third with some well-placed balls. The Mountain Hawks led off with a single to center, a bloop single down the right field line and an infield single off the end of the bat to load the bases. Lehigh scored its first run on a fielder's choice and claimed a 3-2 lead on a two-run single to left.
The Midshipmen rallied again with two outs and nobody on in the fifth to grab the lead for good. Hamilton and Martinez each singled to set the stage for freshman Drew Lydon (White Plains, Md.), who doubled down the right field line to score both runs.
Navy tacked on to its lead with a four-run sixth inning that made the score 8-3. Harris delivered a two-run single with the bases loaded and Hamilton drilled a double to straightaway center that plated a pair of Midshipmen.
Hamilton finished game two 3-for-5 with a double, a run scored and three RBIs to lead Navy's 12-hit attack. Harris, Martinez and Lydon each registered their second multi-hit performance of the afternoon in the nightcap. Harris' three RBIs in game two pushed his season total to 42, tying him for 10th place on the all-time single-season list with Tony Mauro in 1999.
The Midshipmen will return to action on Wednesday, when they travel to Shirley Povich Field in Bethesda, Md., to take on Georgetown in a 7 p.m. start.
