March 30, 2008
Game One Box Score (Navy 13, Lafayette 5)
Game Two Box Score (Navy 6, Lafayette 5 - 13 inn.)
EASTON, Pa. - More than seven hours passed after the first pitch was thrown on Sunday, but at the end, the Navy baseball team came away with a doubleheader sweep at Lafayette's Class of 1978 Stadium. The Midshipmen took the opener, 13-5, before a 13-inning, 6-5, triumph in a nightcap that lasted four hours and six minutes.
Navy improved to 17-9 overall and 3-1 in the Patriot League, while Lafayette dropped 11-9 overall and 1-3 in league action. The Midshipmen have played in six one-run games over the last-eight contests, going 5-1 in those ball games.
"Obviously, winning two games in the same day in Patriot League play on the road is a good day," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "We were able to get off the deck with the 3-2 win yesterday and swung the bat well in the opener.
"The second game was one of the most amazing college baseball games I have been involved with (during my 19-year coaching career). Each team had multiple opportunities to win the game, but neither team was willing to give in. This was truly a great battle between two teams."
The 13-inning, second game of Sunday's doubleheader was the longest contest, inning-wise, for Navy since a 7-6 loss in 13 innings against Maryland-Baltimore County on March 31, 1993.
In the 13th inning, Renaldo Hollins (Sr./Virginia Beach, Va.) delivered a one-out single to left before Kostacopoulos called upon Jeff Murdza (So./Hamilton, N.J.), who had not played all weekend, to come up and pinch hit. With a hit-and-run on, Murdza laced a single over the second baseman's head. Hollins motored around third and beat the throw to the plate with a head-first slide to break the 5-5 tie. Navy relief pitcher Jonathan Berkowitz (So./Parkland, Fla.), in his second inning of work, retired the Leopards 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning to preserve the victory.
"That play was going to be the way this game was going to end - a hustle play," said Kostacopoulos. "Jeff got a good pitch to hit and Renaldo really showed hustle on scoring from first on a single."
The two teams were tied at four going into the ninth before the Midshipmen took the lead. Hollins led off with a walk and advanced to third on a one-out, hit-and-run off the bat of Jonathan Wright (Fr./Arden, N.C.). Stepping to the plate was Thomas Hamilton (Sr./Houston, Texas), who belted the go-ahead home run in the ninth inning in the nightcap of Saturday's twinbill, singled to left to plate Hollins and give the Mids a 5-4 cushion.
Navy called upon its short relief specialist, JD Melton (So./Myrtle Beach, S.C.), to close out the game. Melton gave up a leadoff single to Rob Froio, who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. The Navy reliever induced a popout to the next batter before working ahead of pinch-hitter Matt Hall with a 0-2 count. After just missing on the outside corner, Hall smacked a game-tying triple to left-center. Melton, faced with another precarious situation, struck out pinch-hitter A.J. Miller looking to force extra innings.
The Midshipmen appeared to have a golden opportunity to take the lead in the 11th inning. Michael Speciale (So./Pearland, Texas) led off the inning with a triple to deep right-centerfield. However, Lafayette relief pitcher Jason Morytko induced back-to-back groundouts before getting Mitch Harris (Sr./Mt. Holly, N.C.) to ground out on an extremely close play at first base.
During the home half of the 12th inning, Berkowitz got into some trouble with two outs. After a fielding error put Miller on first, Lafayette head coach Joe Kinney inserted A.J. Pisarri to pinch-run for Miller. The next hitter, Jeff Butler, doubled down the left field line and Kinney waved Pissari around towards home. However, Wright delivered a strike to shortstop Nick Driscoll (Fr./Riverview, Fla.), who then fired home to catcher Steven Soares (So./Coral Springs, Fla.). The throw beat Pisarri to the plate, but the contact between him and Soares knocked the ball loose. However, Soares was able to re-gain possession of the ball and tag out the runner before he could touch home to force another inning of play.
"That was one of two times in the contest that we gunned down what proved to be the game-winning run at the plate," said Kostacopoulos. "In addition to that key play, Jonathan made a good throw to Matthew (Curley), who made a heads up play and threw out the runner at home in the sixth on a double. Those are two plays that don't show up a lot and truly saved the game for us."
Navy jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, as Kendall Bolt (So./Stockton, Calif.) belted a two-out, two-run double to the gap in left-center. Jeff Bland (Fr./Basking Ridge, N.J.) followed with what appeared to be a RBI-double to left-center, but Bland missed the first-base bag on his way to second, and a Lafayette appeal to first after the play resulted in the third out of the inning.
Lafayette grabbed its first lead of the day with a four-run second inning that chased Navy starter Yale Eckert (So./La Selva Beach, Calif.). However, the Navy bullpen of Kevin Heasley (Sr./Cincinnati, Ohio), Drew Carlson (So./Boca Raton, Fla.), Melton and Berkowitz combined to hold the Leopards to just one run over 11.1 innings.
"Our bullpen was amazing today," stated Kostacopoulos. "When your starting pitchers each just go 1.2 innings and you win both games, that tells you the work that the bullpen did."
The Midshipmen chipped away over the middle innings to knot the game at four. In the fourth, Speciale was hit by a pitch before Wright doubled him home. One inning later, Harris ripped a leadoff, solo blast over the left-field fence for his fifth home run of the season.
Navy held a 16-11 advantage in the hits department during the nightcap, featuring five extra base hits. Wright, Bolt and Hamilton each collected three base knocks, while Speciale produced a double and a triple.
In the opener, Navy's offense exploded for 15 hits, seven of which were of the extra-base variety. Speciale went 4-for-4 with a walk, four runs scored, a double, a home run and two RBIs. Wright followed Speciale in the order and went 4-for-5 with two doubles, four RBIs and two runs scored. It was Wright's fourth four-hit game of the season.
"When you have your top-two guys in the order combine to go 8-for-9, you are going to score some runs," said Kostacopoulos. "Michael and Jonathan put on great at bats all weekend and really battled at the plate."
Driscoll delivered a 2-for-3 effort at the plate with a double, a home run, two RBIs, two runs scored and a walk. Starting pitcher/designated hitter Harris went 2-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored.
Harris made his debut on the mound on Sunday, as he went 1.2 innings and fanned three batters while allowing one run and one walk in limited action. He threw 33 pitches, 21 of which went for strikes.
Relief pitcher Chris Murray (So./Navarre, Fla.) earned the win, as he did not allow a run in 2.2 innings of work to close out the game. The southpaw yielded just one hit and no walks with a strikeout to up his record to 3-0 this season.
Navy jumped out and took a 1-0 lead two batters into the game. Speciale doubled to the gap in right-center before Wright singled him home.
Lafayette knotted the game at one in the bottom half of the second before Navy pulled away with a six-run third inning. Wright, Harris and Bolt each had run-scoring base knocks before Driscoll capped the inning with a two-run shot to left.
The Leopards pulled within four at 7-3 before Navy again answered, this time with a two-out, solo blast to left-center by Soares in the fifth.
Lafayette again scored twice in the bottom half of the inning, but the Midshipmen put the game away with a four-run sixth and one-run seventh. Speciale and Hamilton each had RBI singles, sandwiched around a two-run double off the bat of Wright. One frame later, Speciale lined his fifth home run of the year over the fence down the left-field line.
Navy will return to action on Tuesday, April 1, when it heads to College Park, Md., to take on Maryland. First pitch at Shipley Field is slated for 6 p.m., and live stats will be available via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)
