March 22, 2008
Game One Box Score (Navy 2, Princeton 1 - 8 inn.)
Game Two Box Score (Princeton 20, Navy 4)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy starting pitcher Mark McCoy (Sr./Parkland, Fla.) went the distance in the opener as the Midshipmen rallied in the late innings to earn a split with Princeton during a Saturday baseball doubleheader at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium. The Midshipmen won the opener in eight innings, 2-1, before the Tigers came back with a 20-4 victory in the nightcap. Navy moved to 12-8 on the year, while Princeton saw its record go to 7-8.
McCoy fired eight innings of one-run baseball with no walks and six strikeouts in the first game of the day. He used just 97 pitches on the day to record his 24 outs, 66 of which went for strikeouts. With the win, McCoy improved to 3-1 this season and moved into a tie for eighth place on the career wins list with 18.
"This is the time of the year in which Mark really starts to come on," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "He's really getting his command going and threw pretty well. He was certainly the key to our victory today."
Princeton jumped out to an early 1-0 lead against McCoy in the first, as Adrian Turnham delivered a one-out, run-scoring single. After Jack Murphy singled to right, McCoy settled in and retired the next-15 batters in order, stretching into the sixth inning.
Meanwhile, Princeton starter David Hale was just as effective as his counterpart on the mound. Hale set down the first-10 batters he faced and had his no-hitter snapped into the sixth inning, a base knock that would prove to be big for the Midshipmen.
Nick Driscoll (Fr./Riverview, Fla.) reached on a fielder's choice and stood on first with two outs in the sixth before he swiped second base. That set the stage for Michael Speciale (So./Pearland, Texas), who came up and smacked Hale's 2-1 offering in front of the left fielder for a single and Driscoll raced around third and scored the game-tying run. Speciale stole second base, but Hale induced a groundout to get out of the inning
Navy had an opportunity to win the game one inning later. Mitch Harris (Sr./Mt. Holly, N.C.) ripped a one-double to the gap in right-center. After Jonathan Berkowitz (So./Parkland, Fla.) drew a five-pitch walk, Hale again bailed himself out with a flyout and a fielder's choice.
In the eighth, Driscoll and pinch-hitter Matt Sweisthal (So./Spring, Texas) greeted Princeton reliever Matt Welsh with back-to-back singled to begin the frame. However, Welsh forced a double play that allowed Driscoll to move to third with two outs. Jonathan Wright (Fr./Arden, N.C.) stepped to the plate and hit a grounder to short that was fielded, but the throw sailed on him and forced the first baseman off the bag and allowed Driscoll to score the game-ending, game-winning run for the Mids.
"The first game was a great one - we competed and battled against a great pitcher (David Hale) and did what we needed to do to get the win," stated Kostacopoulos. "Even though we were somewhat overmatched at the plate, we still were able to get the big hit and take advantage of a couple of breaks. I really like how we played the game."
In game two, Princeton jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first before the Mids answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning, a Thomas Hamilton (Sr./Houston, Texas) single to right.
However, the Tigers offense exploded for 10 runs on eight hits in the second inning, as they sent 15 batters to the plate and never looked back.
Princeton out-hit Navy, 27-9, and scored the most runs against a Navy team since Missouri defeated the Mids, 25-2, at the 2005 Service Academy Spring Classic.
Navy starter Chip Tengler (Fr./Alamo, Calif.) was tagged for the loss, as he allowed six hits and six earned runs over 1.2 innings with one walk and three strikeouts. Kevin Heasley (Sr./Cincinnati, Ohio) produced 3.1 innings of shutout relief with three strikeouts and Sam Long (Fr./Newnan, Ga.) fanned a batter in a scoreless ninth inning. The Midshipmen pitching staff combined to strike out 10 batters in the back end of Saturday's twinbill.
The lone bright spot from the Navy offense in the nightcap came from Bolt, who belted a triple in the seventh and eighth innings. He is the first Navy hitter since Michael Garcia against Yale last year (March 25) to hit a pair of three-baggers in the same contest.
"To give up 12 runs in the first-two innings, that's just baseball sometimes," said Kostacopoulos. "Over the first-two games of the series, we allowed 11 hits and in this game we gave up 27. You just have to tip your hat to the opposing team and get back at it tomorrow."
The Midshipmen will look to win their four-game set with Princeton tomorrow, as the two teams square off in the series finale, starting at 12 noon. Live stats for all of Navy's home games will be available via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)
