March 29, 2009
Game One Box Score (Navy 2, Lafayette 1 - 8 inn.)
Game Two Box Score (Navy 13, Lafayette 4)
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy baseball team rallied from deficits in each of its two games on Sunday afternoon to sweep Lafayette at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium. The Midshipmen won the opener in eight innings, 2-1, before taking the nightcap, 13-4.
Navy improved to 9-14-1 overall and 3-1 in the Patriot League, while Lafayette dropped to 9-14 on the year and 1-3 in league action.
After six scoreless innings in the opener, Lafayette took a 1-0 lead in the seventh on a two-out single to right by A.J. Pisarri. Heading into the last inning, Kendall Bolt (Jr./Stockton, Calif.) ripped a triple off the fence in left field with one out. The Leopards pulled starter Jeremy Atkins for Brian Mostek, who came in and got a crucial strikeout looking for the second out of the frame. Down to the final out, Lafayette played the matchup game and brought in right-hander Ian Dickson to face Michael Speciale (Jr./Pearland, Texas). On a 1-1 count, Speciale laced a double over the third baseman's head down the left field line to tie the ballgame at one and force extra innings. Prior to that point, Navy had not had a runner in scoring position for the entire game.
In the bottom of the eighth, Alex Azor (Fr./Miami, Fla.) came off the bench and worked a walk before Andrew Hahn (Fr./Ellicott City, Md.) came in to run for Azor. After a one-out hit by pitch put Hahn on second, Mike Guadagnini (So./Virginia Beach, Va.) flared a single to center. Hahn rounded third and slid home safely as the throw was cut off to give the Mids a come-from-behind triumph.
Navy starter TJ Kerins (Fr./Marietta, Ga.) worked 7.1 innings and scattered nine hits and one run with no walks and seven strikeouts. The Navy freshman worked out of some jams to force the Leopards to strand seven runners on base before exiting with 108 pitches thrown - 77 of which were strikes. Reliever Drew Carlson (Jr./Boca Raton, Fla.) came on in the eighth inning and induced a double play to end the frame to earn his second win in as many appearances.
"TJ was outstanding for us," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "He certainly came up big in the clutch and really was working both sides of the plate.
"Obviously in the first game, being able to get off the deck and pull out a win was a big emotional lift for us. We were able to find a way to win, something that unfortunately had been elusive for us in the early part of the season. We were certainly able to roll that momentum into the second game."
In the nightcap, Lafayette scored three runs in the first before starter Zach Sipe (Fr./Huffman, Texas) settled down to hold the visitors scoreless over the next-six stanzas.
Navy wasted little time in helping out Sipe after the rocky first inning, scoring four runs in the bottom half and plating 13 unanswered runs over the first-five innings to build a 10-run cushion.
In the first, Guadagnini tripled to left and scored on a groundout before Bolt launched a towering shot over the left-field fence and off the fence on Upper Lawrence Field. Jonathan Berkowitz (Jr./Parkland, Fla.) belted a RBI-triple down the right-field line and would score on a Steven Soares (Jr./Coral Springs, Fla.) double down the left-field line.
Two innings later, Navy sent 10 batters to the plate and broke the game open with a five-run frame. Speciale led off with a double to right-center before scoring on a fielding error by the first baseman. After a walk put runners on first and second with nobody out, Nick Driscoll (So./Riverview, Fla.) attempted to bunt but saw the count go into his favor at 3-1 before depositing the next offering over the fence in left-center for a three-run shot. Matthew Curley (Jr./Boston, Mass.) doubled to right and would touch home plate on a Jonathan Wright (So./Arden, N.C.) single to center.
During the fourth, Soares blasted a mammoth solo shot over both the left-field fence and Upper Lawrence Field fence. One inning later, Bolt delivered a RBI-single through the left side before Speciale smacked his second double of the game - this time to left-center - to bring home two more runs to make the score 13-3.
Five different Midshipmen produced multi-hit efforts in the nightcap to out-hit the Leopards, 16-8. Three-hitter Bolt went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs, followed by Speciale's 3-for-4 effort with two runs scored, two RBIs, a walk and a stolen base out of the cleanup spot. Leadoff man Guadagnini went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a walk after finishing 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI in the opener. Soares recorded a 2-for-3 effort at the dish with two runs scored, two RBIs and a walk, while Curley went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs.
"Our offense did a nice job of capitalizing on our opportunities early in the second game," said Kostacopoulos. "We kept working at the plate and were able to stretch out the lead."
Sipe earned the win to improve to 2-2 on the year. He allowed three runs on six hits - all of the runs and three of the hits coming in the first - over 7.0 innings with two walks and five strikeouts.
"Zach was really given a second start in game two," stated Kostacopoulos. "The offense was able to pick him up after the first inning. He really took advantage of the second chance he was given.
"Our two freshmen pitchers - TJ Kerins and Zach Sipe - both did a nice job for us. As I have said throughout the entire year, our goal for them is to keep getting better each time they go out."
The Midshipmen will close out their 10-game homestand on Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. when they welcome into town in-state rival Maryland. Live stats will be available via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)
DIAMOND NOTES
- Navy opened Patriot League with a 3-1 record against Lafayette ... since head coach Paul Kostacopoulos's first season with the Mids in 2006, Navy has posted a 14-2 record in league-opening series.
- Navy (3-1) ended its weekend in a tie with Bucknell (3-1) in the Patriot League standings ... the Bison split Sunday's twinbill against Army (1-3), dropping the opener, 9-2, before winning the nightcap, 7-5 ... Holy Cross (2-0) and Lehigh (0-2) had their doubleheader pushed back to Monday at 1 p.m. due to rain.
- The Midshipmen played in their fifth extra-inning game of the spring in the opener ... Navy is 2-2-1 in extra-inning affairs ... prior to Sunday, Navy's last extra-inning win came against UMass on March 14 in Annapolis, as it defeated the Minutemen, 6-5, in 10 innings ... that was also Navy's last walk-off win before Sunday's opening game thriller.
- Navy's pitching staff held Lafayette to five runs on Sunday and 11 runs total over the four-game weekend series ... the starting rotation of two sophomores and two freshmen combined to log 27.0 innings over the four contests with only seven walks and 22 strikeouts.
- Navy game one starter TJ Kerins recorded career highs in innings (7.1) and strikeouts (7) on Sunday ... over his three career starts, he has allowed only one run over 18.1 innings with two walks and 17 strikeouts ... he has not issued a walk over his last-18.0 innings on the hill.
- Navy game two starter Zach Sipe also set a career high in innings pitched (7.0) on Sunday ... his performance topped his 6.2-inning outing against Princeton last weekend in Annapolis.
- The 13-run outburst in game two by the Midshipmen was the most in a Patriot League game since it touched up Bucknell for 16 runs on the road last spring in Lewisburg ... it was Navy's highest run-production in a home league game since April 23, 2000, when it defeated Holy Cross, 14-6.
- The Midshipmen blasted three home runs in the nightcap, tying its season-high total at Mount St. Mary's on March 19 ... it was the most home runs hit by Navy in one game at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium this decade ... the Mids have hit a total of 12 home runs on their home field this year, just two shy of matching its mark from a season ago when they belted 38 total home runs on the year.
- Kendall Bolt tied his career high in hits with four base knocks in game two on Sunday ... he has recorded four hits on three other occasions, with the most recent coming against Princeton just nine days ago.
- Michael Speciale moved into 14th place on the career runs list with Navy after touching home two times in the nightcap ... he now has scored 100 times, one more than Andy Ponseigo recorded in his career from 1982-84.
- Lafayette came into the weekend leading the Patriot League in stolen bases with 46 ... however, Navy catcher Steven Soares did not allow a stolen base from behind the plate all weekend ... the Leopards did not attempt to steal in either contest on Sunday.
