March 14, 2008
Box Score
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy designated hitter Mitch Harris (Sr./Mt. Holly, N.C.) belted two home runs to lift the Midshipmen to a 6-3 baseball victory over Monmouth on Friday afternoon at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium. The Midshipmen improved to 8-6 on the year, while the Hawks saw their mark fall to 2-7.
Harris became the first Navy player since Tony Mauro against Lafayette on April 3, 1999, to hit two home runs in the same game in Annapolis. Harris hit his first home run of the year yesterday in a 20-6 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore. Today's two-longball performance moved him into sole possession of seventh place on the career home runs list with 13.
"Mitch has a presence in the lineup that we needed and have enjoyed since he came back," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "He may not have had the ball fall right away for him, but he was certainly making good contact. Today, he gave us a big effort in leading us to a win."
Navy jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, as Harris sent a Brent Brach offering onto the hill over the left field fence. The Midshipmen pushed the lead to 4-0 in the third on a Michael Speciale (So./Pearland, Texas) RBI-double and a Kendall Bolt (So./Stockton, Calif.) sacrifice fly.
The Hawks chipped away at the Midshipmen lead, plating two runs and one in the fifth against Navy starter Oliver Drake (So./Gardner, Mass.). However, the one-run margin would be the closest Monmouth could get, as the relief work of Chris Murray (So./Navarre, Fla.) and JD Melton (So./Myrtle Beach, S.C.) fired five innings of scoreless work.
Murray earned the win to improve to 2-0 on the year, as he scattered three hits and one walk with three strikeouts over four innings. Murray has not allowed a run in five appearances this spring, a total of 14.1 innings with 15 strikeouts. Melton came on with one runner on in the ninth and got the final-three outs to pick up his second save of the year. Friday's save pushed Melton's career total at Navy to 11, tying him for the program record with former closer Ryan Hefner (2003-06).
"Chris settled the game down for us when Monmouth started stringing some things together," said Kostacopoulos. "He did a great job in the fifth inning and got us out of a huge jam by almost exactly how you draw it up. He has given us great relief work all season. I have been real impressed by him."
Drake struggled with his command on Friday, as he walked four and gave up eight hits over four innings with four strikeouts. However, the Navy sophomore came up with the key pitch in several spots early in the contest, as he allowed only three runs and stranded eight runners on base over the first-four frames. Monmouth left 13 runners on base in the game, while Navy only had three runners left on.
"You really have to point to the left-on-base total for the game," stated Kostacopoulos. "That was truly the difference - to our pitchers' credit, they got the big outs when we needed it."
Harris provided some insurance in the eighth inning, as he smashed a two-run shot just to the right of the 397-foot sign in straightaway centerfield.
Harris's performance in the cleanup spot highlighted a day in which Navy's 2-3-4 hitters combined to go 6-for-11 with five runs scored. Speciale went 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base in the No. 2 spot, followed by Thomas Hamilton's (Sr./Houston, Texas) 2-for-4 effort at the plate.
"Things are starting to get better for us offensively," said Kostacopoulos. "We have a better feel for our lineup than during our first-10 games of the year."
The Midshipmen will play their fourth game in as many days when they host Maine (5-9) tomorrow in a 2:30 p.m. tilt. Live stats for all of Navy's home games are available via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)
