March 28, 2009
Game One Box Score (Navy 5, Lafayette 4)
Game Two Box Score (Lafayette 2, Navy 1)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy second baseman Matthew Curley (Jr./Boston, Mass.) delivered a go-ahead, two-run double in the sixth inning of Saturday's opener to help the Midshipmen to a baseball doubleheader split with Lafayette at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium. The Mids rallied to win game one, 5-4, before the Leopards scored in the ninth to claim game two, 2-1.
Navy saw its mark go to 7-14-1 overall on the year and 1-1 in Patriot League play, while Lafayette went to 9-12 overall and 1-1 in league action.
"I thought we played two good baseball games for a complete 16 innings today," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "You have to tip your cap to Lafayette's pitchers today. They were able to locate and kept us off balance for much of the afternoon."
Trailing 4-3 going into the sixth inning of the opener, Eddie Diaz (So./North Myrtle Beach, S.C.) reached on an error to lead off the frame. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and Nick Driscoll (So./Riverview, Fla.) worked a walk before Curley ripped a double to the gap in left-center to give the hosts a 5-4 lead.
Navy reliever Drew Carlson (Jr./Boca Raton, Fla.) closed out his 2.1-inning appearance with a scoreless seventh to earn his first win of the season. He allowed only one hit over that timeframe without a run scoring.
"Drew did a nice job out of the bullpen for us," said Kostacopoulos. "We really need that type of performance in a close game."
The Midshipmen jumped out to a 3-0 lead after three innings of play. Jonathan Berkowitz (Jr./Parkland, Fla.) launched a two-out, solo shot to left to put the hosts on top, 1-0, in the second. One inning later, Kendall Bolt (Jr./Stockton, Calif.) produced a two-out, two-run double down the left-field line.
Lafayette rallied to take its first lead of the game with a four-run fifth inning. The Leopards scored their first run on a throwing error and had the bases loaded with one out before a bases-clearing triple off the bat of Rob Froio, who came into the game hitting .481 on the year. However, he would remained stranded at third, as Berkowitz made a diving stab on a liner at first and a foul popout ended the inning.
"It was a nice college baseball win for us (in the opener)," stated Kostacopoulos. "To be up, then down and then score twice in the sixth and get three outs in the seventh - it was a good ballgame with some excitement. Both teams went out there and played hard."
Navy starter Sam Long (So./Newnan, Ga.), the Patriot League leader in strikeouts, fanned six over 4.2 innings of five-hit, four-run baseball - three runs of which were earned.
Curley socked a pair of doubles and plated a run in the opener. Leadoff hitter Mike Guadagnini (So./Virginia Beach, Va.) went 3-for-3 to help the Mids out-hit the Leopards, 7-6.
In the nightcap, Navy fell behind 1-0 after the first inning, but starter Wes Olson (So./Indianapolis, Ind.) settled down to hold the Leopards off the board for the next-seven frames. Olson exited after eight innings with only one run and five hits allowed with three walks and four strikeouts. The Navy right-hander fired 110 pitches on the afternoon.
"Wes pitched really well and we really needed that from him," said Kostacopoulos. "He certainly delivered a winning performance and did everything that we asked him to do today."
Navy came back and tied the game at one in the sixth. Jonathan Wright (So./Arden, N.C.) and Michael Speciale (Jr./Pearland, Texas) smacked back-to-back singles with one out before Wright advanced to third on a fly ball to right. With runners on the corners and two outs, Lafayette starter Corey Shea balked to bring in Wright.
The Midshipmen had a chance to grab the lead in the eighth, as Speciale stood on second with two outs. Bolt stepped up and belted a fly ball deep to left, but hung up in the air long enough for Alex Bechta to get under and catch the ball on the warning track to end the inning.
In the ninth, Lafayette had a pinch-runner on first - Bobby Fargnoli - with two outs. With southpaw reliever Chris Murray (Jr./Navarre, Fla.) on the mound, Fargnoli broke for second on first movement and Murray's throw over to first sailed beyond the first baseman to allow Fargnoli to go to third. Later in the at bat, A.J. Miller proceeded to ground the ball up the middle for what appeared to be a sure single to center. However, Guadagnini - playing shortstop - corralled the ball on a diving effort and made a one-hop throw to first from his knees that could not be fielded cleanly that allowed Fargnoli to plate the go-ahead run.
Navy had a chance to tie the game in the ninth, as Steven Soares (Jr./Coral Springs, Fla.) led off with a single through the right side and was pinch-run for by Andrew Hahn (Fr./Ellicott City, Md.). Hahn moved to second on the second balk of the game with nobody out, but could not move any closer, as a strikeout, foul popout and a groundout ended the game.
Murray was tagged for the loss, as he allowed an unearned run to score on two hits over an inning of relief.
Berkowitz and Wright each landed in the multi-hit department during game two on Saturday. Berkowitz went 2-for-3 with a double, while Wright finished 2-for-3 with a run scored.
The Midshipmen will close out the four-game weekend series with Lafayette tomorrow with a 12 noon doubleheader. Sunday's games will be broadcast live (audio only) on Navy All-Access, as commentators Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller will deliver the call from Annapolis. Tomorrow is also "Take the Family to a Game" day, as families will be able to purchase four hot dogs and four drinks for just $10.
DIAMOND NOTES
- Navy's win in the opener on Saturday pushed its winning streak to four games against Lafayette before the setback in the nightcap ... the two teams have split three of their last-four doubleheaders.
- Navy and Lafayette were the only teams to split their Patriot League-opening doubleheaders on Saturday ... Bucknell swept Army, 2-1 and 18-2, in Lewisburg, Pa. ... Holy Cross took two from Lehigh, 6-5 and 7-6, in Worcester, Mass.
- Steven Soares threw out all-three base runners that attempted to run on him on Saturday ... Lafayette came into the game leading the Patriot League with 46 stolen bases in 56 attempts ... Soares has gunned down 51.4 percent (18-for-35) of all base stealers this year and 10 of the last-12 runners.
- Wes Olson delivered a career-long 8.0-inning performance against Lafayette in game two on Saturday ... it surpassed his 7.1-inning outing against UMass two starts ago on March 14.
- Sam Long struck out more batters than innings pitched for the fifth time in as many starts this year ... the Patriot League leader in strikeouts has fanned 43 batters in just 26.2 innings this season - good for an average of 14.51 punchouts per nine frames ... he came into the week with the second-highest average in the country, behind only fireballer Stephen Strasburg from San Diego State.
- Drew Carlson did not allow a run in 2.1 innings of relief in the opener to earn the win ... he has produced eight career efforts in which he has fired at least 2.0 innings of scoreless relief.
- Matthew Curley belted a pair of doubles in the opener on Saturday ... it was the first time in his career that he recorded two two-baggers in the same contest.
- Kendall Bolt saw his consecutive-games streak of reaching base safely come to an end at 30 contests in the nightcap on Saturday ... he was held off base over his four plate appearances, the last of which was a warning-track flyout to left in the eighth ... he extended the streak to 30 games in the opener with a 1-for-2 effort at the plate with a walk and two RBIs.
- Mike Guadagnini extended his hitting streak to seven games in the opener before it came to an end in game two ... during the streak, he batted .593 (16-for-27).
