April 13, 2008
Box Score | Photo Gallery 
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy starting pitcher Mitch Harris (Sr./Mt. Holly, N.C.) allowed just three hits in 7.2 innings in the opener, but could not get enough support from the offense as the Midshipmen dropped both ends of Sunday's baseball twinbill against Army at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium. The Mids lost the first game in eight innings, 2-1, before falling in the nightcap, 10-2.
Navy saw its record dip to 20-16 overall and 6-5 in the Patriot League, while Army won its sixth-straight contest to improve to 14-18 on the year and 6-5 in league play. With the win in the opener, the Black Knights captured the Star for the fifth-consecutive year.
"Offensively, it's been the same story for the last week and a half," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "We chased a lot of bad pitches and missed several good ones to hit. It's a contagious situation right now, but that's baseball. You know that this will happen during the course of a year - you just try to get out of it as fast as you can. We are a weak offensive team right now.
"Army has done a great job on offense. They have played good baseball and are hot right now. We are going to have to break out, sooner or later. We will see what tomorrow brings."
Harris, who made his third start of the year after lasting 68 pitches and five innings at Lehigh last week, threw 104 pitches on Sunday, 71 of which went for strikes. The Navy right-hander fanned seven and carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but was credited for his first loss of the year.
"Mitch threw very well today," said Kostacopoulos. "He really competed out there, which was good to see. He had his velocity back and had command of his pitches. It was a very strong performance."
Army starter Cole White was equally as impressive and delivered a pitcher's duel. White went the distance and allowed just one hit with five walks and six strikeouts. The Army right-hander fired 96 pitches, 53 of which were strikes.
The Black Knights took a 1-0 advantage in the second without the help of a base hit. J.P. Polchinski drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a wild pitch. Mike Greco followed and hit the ball right in front of the plate, but catcher Jeff Bland (Fr./Basking Ridge, N.J.) bobbled the baseball in attempt to tag Polchinski, who charged for home on contact, and all runners were safe.
Navy was also held hitless over the first-four innings before knotting the game at one in the fifth. Michael Speciale (So./Pearland, Texas) drew a leadoff walk before Kendall Bolt (So./Stockton, Calif.) hit a double off the top of the fence down the right-field line to put two runners in scoring position. Bland followed with a sacrifice fly to score Speciale and move Bolt to third. However, White was able to get a groundout back to him and a strikeout swinging to avoid further damage.
In the eighth, Harris got a pair of groundouts to start the inning before allowing two walks. Navy reliever Drew Carlson (So./Boca Raton, Fla.) came on for Harris and got ahead of Kevin McKague with a 1-2 count. The Black Knights sent the runners in motion and McKague hit a single where third base would have been occupied to bring around the go-ahead run.
In the nightcap, Army jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two and a half innings before Navy responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Nick Driscoll (Fr./Riverview, Fla.) drilled a double to center, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch. Speciale followed with a triple to right and would come home to score on a RBI-groundout by Jonathan Wright (Fr./Arden, N.C.)
That would be as close as the Midshipmen would get, as the Black Knights responded with a three-run fourth inning and tacked on two insurance runs in the seventh.
Speciale went 3-for-4 with the triple and run scored, while Thomas Hamilton (Sr./Houston, Texas) produced two base knocks in three at bats in the nightcap.
Navy starter Mark McCoy (Sr./Parkland, Fla.) allowed eight hits and eight runs, five of which were earned, with two walks and five strikeouts in 3.2 innings to get the loss. Navy relievers Sam Long (Fr./Newnan, Ga.), Wes Olson (Fr./Indianapolis, Ind.), Chris Murray (So./Navarre, Fla.) and JD Melton (So./Myrtle Beach, S.C.) combined to allow just one earned run on four hits over the final 5.1 innings of the contest.
The Midshipmen and the Black Knights will conclude the four-game series with a single nine-inning contest tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.. The winner of Monday's doubleheader will move into a tie for first place in the Patriot League standings with Holy Cross and Bucknell. Live stats for all of Navy's home games will be available via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)
