March 6, 2009
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Navy third baseman Mike Guadagnini (So./Virginia Beach, Va.) went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a stolen base to lead the Midshipmen to a 7-4 baseball victory over Iona on Friday afternoon at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium. The Mids improved to 2-3-1 on the year, while the Gaels fell to 0-7.
"We are still not yet where we want to be offensively, but there were some positive signs today," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "Mike had a solid day with three hits and we did not strike out at the plate. We also had a couple critical stolen bases that led to some runs. It's a work in progress and, today, we were able to do enough to win the game."
Guadagnini played a key role in Navy's four-run fourth inning that proved to be the difference on Friday. Jonathan Wright (So./Arden, N.C.) led off with a single to left and Jonathan Berkowitz (Jr./Parkland, Fla.) drew a walk before Guadagnini brought both runners home with a double down the left field line. Guadagnini would come around to score on a Steven Soares (Jr./Coral Springs, Fla.) double to the gap in left center, who would later touch home on a Matthew Curley (Jr./Boston, Mass.) double down the right-field line.
Iona jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first on a two-run opposite-field home run off the bat of Andrew Passerelle. However, that would be all the offense the Gaels could muster off Navy starter Sam Long (So./Newnan, Ga.) for several innings, as he retired 14-consecutive batters.
The Midshipmen responded with a three-run third inning to take the lead for good. Nick Driscoll (So./Riverview, Fla.) led off with a double to right-center before coming home on a Curley single to left. After a Michael Speciale (Jr./Pearland, Texas) two-out walk, Kendall Bolt (Jr./Stockton, Calif.) delivered a two-run single through the left side to give the hosts a 3-2 advantage.
The Gaels inched back with a run in the sixth and seventh innings to chase Long out of the contest, but reliever TJ Kerins (Fr./Marietta, Ga.) came on and retired the final-seven batters of the game on just 23 pitches.
Long earned the win to improve to 1-0 on the year after striking out a career-best nine batters over 6.2 innings with six hits, one walk and four runs allowed. Kerins picked up his first-career save with 2.1 innings of perfect relief with two strikeouts.
"Sam threw well this afternoon," said Kostacopoulos. "He gave up the two runs early, but really settled the game down from that point and gave us chances to get back into the game. He probably tired a little bit near the end, but TJ came in and got us the out we needed in the seventh and a clean eighth and ninth innings."
Curley joined Guadagnini in the multi-hit department for the Mids on Friday, as he went 2-for-3 with a double, stolen base and two RBIs. Navy out-hit Iona, 9-6, and did not strike out while walking four times.
The Midshipmen will return to action tomorrow at 2 p.m. when they host Central Connecticut State (0-0). Admission to all Navy home games at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium is free and live stats will be available via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)
DIAMOND NOTES
- Navy maintained its all-time unblemished record against Iona, improving to 6-0 ... the Midshipmen are now 13-2 all-time against teams currently affiliated with the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
- Friday's game-time temperature of 53 degrees was the warmest weather that Mids have played in this year ... prior to Friday, Navy had not played in a game where the temperature was above 45 degrees.
- Navy improved its record to 60-40-3 in games played at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium under the guidance of head coach Paul Kostacopoulos.
- Navy did not strike out against Iona's pitching staff on Friday ... it marks the first time since April 6, 2002 (a span of 338 games) in which the Midshipmen did not strike out at the plate.
- The Midshipmen fanned 11 Iona batters and walked only one on Friday ... the 11 punchouts were the most by the Mids since they retired 11 Bucknell batters via the strikeout in the Patriot League Championship series on May 16, 2008.
- Sam Long smashed his career highs in both innings pitched (6.2) and strikeouts (9) on Friday afternoon ... his previous standard for innings was 5.0 against Coppin State on April 24, 2008 ... in his first start this year against Delaware State on Feb. 25, he struck out a then-career-best six batters.
- Iona's two-run home run by Andrew Passerelle was the first against the Midshipmen this spring and the first since Bucknell's Jason Buursma went deep in the 2008 Patriot League Championship, a span of 46.0 innings.
- Mike Guadagnini recorded his ninth-career three-hit game on Friday afternoon.
- Matthew Curley recorded his second-career multi-hit game for the Mids ... against Air Force last season, he went 3-for-6 with a double and two RBIs.
