March 29, 2008
Game One Box Score (Lafayette 2, Navy 1 - 8 inn.)
Game Two Box Score (Navy 3, Lafayette 2)
EASTON, Pa. - Navy first baseman Thomas Hamilton (Sr./Houston, Texas) delivered a two-run, go-ahead round-tripper in the ninth inning of the nightcap to propel the Midshipmen to a baseball doubleheader split at Lafayette on Saturday afternoon. Lafayette took the first game in eight innings, 2-1, before Navy rallied for a 3-2 victory in game two on a blustery day at Class of 1978 Stadium.
The Midshipmen moved to 15-9 overall and 1-1 in the Patriot League, while the Leopards went to 11-7 overall and 1-1 in league action.
Navy was down, 2-1, in the ninth before making the rally. Lafayette starter Zach Fritz was lifted after eight innings of one-run, four-hit baseball with nine strikeouts in favor of southpaw Brian Mostek, who hit leadoff man Jonathan Wright (Fr./Arden, N.C.) with his first pitch. Hamilton stepped to the plate and blasted a two-run shot over the right-centerfield fence to give the Mids their first lead of the entire day. For Hamilton, it was his first long ball of the season.
"Thomas's hit saved us from a very frustrating day offensively," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "He really came up for us in a big spot. Nothing today came easily. To come through in a situation like that really shows you how hard he is working at the plate. That is what you want out of your captain and what he has done for us."
Navy starter Mark McCoy (Sr./Parkland, Fla.) did not allow a hit over his first-four innings before Lafayette struck for two runs in the fifth. Ryan Roberts produced a RBI single and Daniel Bierce scored on a throwing error, but Roberts was thrown out at the plate by Hamilton during the play to keep the Leopards to just two runs.
The Midshipmen answered back and touched home once in the sixth. Michael Speciale (So./Pearland, Texas) led off with a triple down the right-field line and would score on a Wright RBI groundout.
McCoy lasted seven innings and allowed just one earned run on six hits with one walk and a season-best seven strikeouts.
"Mark did a very nice job on the mound today," stated Kostacopoulos. "He was able to get guys out with his understanding of the game - he's very smart and very intelligent. His fastball and breaking balls were very solid today."
Drew Carlson (So./Boca Raton, Fla.) got into a jam with runners on first and second with one out in the eighth, but induced an inning-ending twin-killing to earn the win and improve to 2-0 on the year. Closer JD Melton (So./Myrtle Beach, S.C.) fanned two batters in a spotless ninth to pick up his sixth save of the season.
"Drew had a big get-out with the double play," said Kostacopoulos. "Matthew Curley (defensive replacement in the inning) made a nice play on that ball at shortstop.
"JD had a 1-2-3 ninth - what more can you say about a closer/short relief guy?"
In the opener, Lafayette took advantage of an unusual play to score the game-ending run in the eighth inning. Ryan Roberts led off the inning with a walk, but Navy starter Oliver Drake (So./Gardner, Mass.) came back with a flyout to center. Roberts stole second during a marathon at bat with Tom Hayes that featured more than 10 pitches and 10 pickoff moves to first before Drake fanned Hayes on a 3-2 offering. Up came Chris Luick, who swung and acted as if he had hit the ball off his foot as it rolled to second baseman Mike Guadagnini. With the batter down in the batter's box and just beginning his jog to first, the ball went under Guadagnini's glove, who had thought the play had been ruled dead, and Luick reached first while Roberts rounded third and scored the game-winning run.
Both starters, Drake and Kevin Reese, went the distance in the first game. Drake was tagged for the loss despite allowing just one earned run and six hits over 7.2 innings with two walks and five strikeouts. Reese yielded just one unearned run in eight innings with three walks and seven strikeouts to earn his second win of the year.
"Even though he got tired towards the end, he battled through and gave us a consistent, solid performance," stated Kostacopoulos. "He had his fastball and slider working for him today. He was able to locate his fastball well and kept the ball down."
Lafayette scored the first run of the contest in the fourth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Drake got ahead of Jeff Butler with a 0-2 count before an off-speed pitch in the dirt got away from the catcher and allowed Luick to score from third.
Navy immediately answered back with a run in the top half of the fifth to knot the game at one. Kendall Bolt (So./Stockton, Calif.) led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Two outs later, Renaldo Hollins (Sr./Virginia Beach, Va.) hit a chopper to short that scooted under his glove and allowed Bolt to come around and touch the plate.
The Midshipmen were out-hit by the host Leopards in both games, 6-5 and 7-6, respectively. Neither team drove in a run during their Patriot League opener.
In addition to the solid pitching and cold weather conditions during Saturday's twinbill, both teams took away hits with several solid defensive plays in yielding just a total of eight runs in two games.
"Both teams played outstanding, defensively, in some very tough conditions with the wind," said Kostacopoulos. "There were some really impressive plays made. This was a well-played defensive college baseball day."
The two teams will close out their weekend series with another doubleheader tomorrow at Lafayette's Class of 1978 Stadium, starting at 12 noon. Live stats will be available via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)
