March 2, 2008
Box Score
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy baseball team stranded 17 runners on base, 11 of which were in scoring position, in dropping the rubber game of a three-game set with Dartmouth, 4-3 in 10 innings, on Sunday at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium. The Midshipmen fell to 3-3 on the year, while the Big Green upped their mark to 2-1.
Navy put the leadoff runner on base in eight of the ten innings, but only once did that runner come around to score on the day. The Midshipmen finished the game 6-for-30 with runners on base and 3-for-19 in run-scoring opportunities.
"When you leave 17 runners on base in a game, that really tells the story," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "We just could not come up with the big hit at any point, outside of the brief stretch in the fifth."
The Midshipmen received another solid starting pitching performance, as southpaw Yale Eckert (So./La Selva Beach, Calif.) scattered five hits and one earned run over six innings with no walks and a career-best nine strikeouts. On the year, Eckert has not walked a batter in 12.1 innings of work, while he has fanned 15 hitters.
"Yale has given us back-to-back quality performances," stated Kostacopoulos. "Although he didn't get the win, that effort was certainly a plus-start. He has been right around the plate and has shown good command with all three of his pitches."
Dartmouth took a 1-0 lead in the second on a RBI-groundout and extended it to 2-0 in the fifth on a RBI-double before Navy responded in the bottom half of the inning. Back-to-back-to-back singles by the Midshipmen to start the inning loaded the bases for Thomas Hamilton (Sr./Houston, Texas), who delivered a two-run single through the left side. Navy's next batter, Jeff Bland (Fr./Basking Ridge, N.J.), came up with the fifth-straight hit with a base knock through the left side to give the Mids their first lead of the game, 3-2. However, Dartmouth starter Robert Young worked out of the no-out jam to avoid further damage.
The Big Green knotted the game at three in the seventh. With runners on the corners and one out, relief pitcher Jonathan Berkowitz (So./Parkland, Fla.) bounced a pickoff throw to first, which allowed the lead runner to score.
Navy had an opportunity to re-take the lead and the win the game in the seventh and ninth innings, respectively. The Midshipmen loaded the bases with one out in the seventh inning, but Dartmouth reliever Kyle Zeis struck out the next-two batters to end the threat. The Mids again had the bases loaded in the ninth with two outs, but Zeis again used the strikeout to force extra innings.
The Big Green took the lead in the tenth, as Damon Wright singled home the go-ahead run with one out. Navy had its shot in the bottom half of the inning, putting runners on first and second with two outs before Zeis fanned another batter to wrap up the game.
Navy's Jonathan Wright (Fr./Arden, N.C.), who led off five times on the day, finished with a 4-for-6 effort at the plate with a run scored. The Navy rookie went .643 (9-for-14) over the three-game set against Dartmouth and now owns a .536 (15-for-28) batting average over the first-six games of the year. He has posted back-to-back four-hit games and three four-hit efforts this season.
"Jonathan did a great job at leadoff today," commented Kostacopoulos. "He just wasn't able to get the help behind him. We weren't able to bunch our hits together, but we're still trying to find the right combination for our lineup."
Bland delivered three hits and a RBI, while Kendall Bolt (So./Stockton, Calif.) had a pair of base knocks and a run scored. The Midshipmen out-hit the Big Green, 14-10, and drew six walks.
Dartmouth's Zeis picked up the win in relief, as he fanned eight batters and walked three over 3.2 innings of shutout work. Navy's JD Melton (So./Myrtle Beach, S.C.) was tagged for the loss after yielding one run over 2.1 innings with two walks and one strikeout.
The Midshipmen will return to action this Wednesday, when they play host to UMBC in a 2 p.m. contest. Live stats will be available via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)
