March 23, 2008
Box Score
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy relief pitchers Drew Carlson (So./Boca Raton, Fla.) and JD Melton (So./Myrtle Beach, S.C.) fired 4.1 innings of shutout baseball to guide the Midshipmen to a 3-2 win over Princeton on Sunday afternoon at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium. Navy took three from Princeton on the weekend series to improve its mark to 13-8, while the visiting Tigers dropped to 7-9.
Carlson came on in relief of Navy starter Yale Eckert (So./La Selva Beach, Calif.) with two guys on and two out in the fifth and recorded a strikeout to get out of the jam. The Navy right-hander would have a runner on third with two outs in the sixth, but closed the door again with a strikeout. Carlson did not let Princeton reach scoring position over his final-two frames to pick up his first-collegiate win. He allowed just one hit in 3.1 innings with no walks and five strikeouts, extending his unearned run streak to 14.2 innings this season.
"Drew came in and did another great job for us," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "He had a really good get-out with the runner in scoring position in the fifth. From that point on, he really settled the game down."
Melton took over to start the ninth and was greeted with a single to center. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runner to second, Melton got in on the hands of left-handed hitter Adrian Turnham to force him to pop out on the first pitch. One batter later, Melton fielded a come-backer and threw to first to pick up his fourth save of the season.
"JD did exactly what the closer needs to do," said Kostacopoulos. "It got a little hairy with the leadoff single, but he fields his position well and made the pitches he needed to make."
Princeton jumped on Eckert immediately, as Dan DeGeorge led off the contest with a solo shot to left. However, Navy immediately answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning and never trailed afterwards.
With two outs and a runner on first, Mitch Harris (Sr./Mt. Holly, N.C.) doubled down the left field line to score Thomas Hamilton (Sr./Houston, Texas), who reached on a fielder's choice, and tie the game at one. Princeton starter Steven Miller then dropped the ball while toeing the rubber, allowing Harris to move to third on a balk. Harris would eventually score on the same at bat, as Miller threw a wild pitch.
Navy made the score 3-1 in the third, as Hamilton and Harris produced back-to-back one-out singles before Jonathan Berkowitz (So./Parkland, Fla.) lined a single to left to plate Hamilton.
Princeton would make things interesting in the fifth and chased Eckert out of the ballgame with a run on three hits before Carlson secured Navy's one-run cushion.
Eckert scattered 10 hits with just two runs scoring over 4.2 innings with a walk and two strikeouts. The Navy southpaw came through with some clutch performances with runners on base, as he picked off one runner and forced the Tigers to strand six runners over his first-four frames.
"Yale got some big outs for us today," Kostacopoulos stated. "Although he gave up 10 hits, the bottom line is that he allowed just two runs. Today wasn't his best performance, but he hung around long enough and got some help from the bullpen to get the win."
Harris was the lone Navy hitter to register a multi-hit performance on Sunday, as he went 3-for-4 with two doubles, one run scored and one RBI. Princeton out-hit Navy in the series finale, 12-7.
"Mitch had a good offensive game for us," Kostacopoulos said. "There weren't many highlights, tangibly speaking. Today, we took advantage of a couple of opportunities and held on real tight."
Princeton committed five errors in the contest, while Navy made three fielding miscues. However, the Midshipmen also took away several hits in earning the victory.
"The mistakes we made defensively were quite silly," stated Kostacopoulos. "At the same time, there were some good plays. Kendall Bolt took away a hit in the fifth, Renaldo Hollins tracked two balls that would have gone for extra bases and Jonathan Wright took a hit away on a sinking liner down the left-field line. Sometimes, the ability to take hits away does not show up in the box score."
The Midshipmen will close out their nine-game homestand on Wednesday, when they play host to Towson at 3:30 p.m. Live stats for all of Navy's home games are available via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)
