April 12, 2009
Game One Box Score (Army 9, Navy 6)
Game Two Box Score (Army 6, Navy 0 - 8 inn.)
WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Navy baseball team suffered a pair of setbacks, 9-6 and 6-0, during Sunday's blustery doubleheader against Army at Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field. The Midshipmen fell to 12-19-1 overall and 5-5 in the Patriot League, while the Black Knights improved to 15-14 on the year and 5-5 in league play.
"We just need to play some better baseball," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "We need to be vigilant about how we play. We have to control the aspects of the game that we can control."
In the opener, Navy jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first. Mike Guadagnini (So./Virginia Beach, Va.) led off the frame with a single and would eventually score on a fielding error by the third baseman.
Army plated two runs in the bottom of the second before Navy scored in the third to knot the game at two. Michael Speciale (Jr./Pearland, Texas) led off the stanza with a solo shot over the right-centerfield fence. However, the game would not remain tied for long, as the Black Knights knocked out Navy starter Sam Long (So./Newnan, Ga.) with a four-run third, only two of which were earned, to make the score 6-2.
The Midshipmen began to chip away at the deficit in the fourth, as Matthew Curley (Jr./Boston, Mass.) led off with a single before Guadagnini blasted a two-run long ball over the fence in right-center to pull within two at 6-4.
The Black Knights extended the lead back to three, 7-4, in the bottom half of the frame before Navy brought home a run in both the fifth and sixth to get within one, 7-6. In the fifth, Steven Soares (Jr./Coral Springs, Fla.) led off with a home run down the left field line. One inning later, Kendall Bolt (Jr./Stockton, Calif.) smacked a RBI-single off the left-field fence. The Midshipmen had runners on the corners with two outs, but Army reliever Tyler Anderegg got a strikeout to end the threat.
Army pushed the lead back to three in the bottom of the sixth, as Kevin McKague unloaded a two-run shot off Cullum Hall beyond the left-field fence to make the score 9-6.
"Army battled out there and was just able to get a couple bigger hits," said Kostacopoulos. "We would fight back to close the gap, then they would answer. We were never able to get able to get completely back. They just did their job."
Long was tagged for his first loss in 2009, as he allowed six runs - four earned - on five hits over two-plus innings with three walks and two strikeouts. Relievers Drew Carlson (Jr./Boca Raton, Fla.) and Jeff Murdza (Jr./Hamilton, N.J.) threw 2.1 and 0.2 innings, respectively, of shutout baseball.
Leadoff hitter Guadagnini went 2-for-3 with three runs scored, a two-run home run and a walk in the opener. Jonathan Wright (So./Arden, N.C.) and Soares joined Guadagnini in the multi-hit department, as each collected a pair of base knocks. The Midshipmen totaled 10 hits in game one, in addition to four walks.
In the nightcap, Army starter Kirk Porter held the Midshipmen hitless through the first-five innings, before Curley broke through with a single to center to begin the sixth.
Army scored twice in the second and once in the third to grab a 3-0 lead. The Black Knights plated three more runs in the fifth to chase Navy starter Wes Olson (So./Indianapolis, Ind.) and to make the score the eventual final, 6-0.
"We just were not able to help ourselves out," said Kostacopoulos. "We had chances to get out of innings, but we did not make the defensive plays behind us when we needed to."
The Mids had an opportunity to make a dent into the deficit in the seventh, as Speciale walked before Jeff Bland (So./Basking Ridge, N.J.) singled through the left side to put runners on first and second. Jonathan Berkowitz (Jr./Parkland, Fla.) stepped to the plate and sent the Porter offering off the centerfield fence. However, the fielder appeared to have a play on the ball, which forced Speciale to tag up and did not allow him to score from second on the play. Porter would get the next batter to strikeout looking before Anderegg came in and got two more strikeouts looking to end the frame.
"You have to give their pitchers credit," stated Kostacopoulos. "Kirk (Porter) did a good job and was able to find another gear to get out of some innings."
The game was called after Navy's half of the eighth inning due to darkness, as the game did not get underway until 4:35 p.m. due to the length of the 1 p.m. first game.
Olson was charged for the loss and saw his record fall to 2-4 on the year. He allowed six runs - five earned - on 10 hits over 4.1 innings with two walks and four strikeouts. Murdza came back in relief and fired 2.2 scoreless innings with only one walk and one hit allowed with two strikeouts.
"Bottom line, Jeff threw very well in both ends of today's doubleheader," said Kostacopoulos. "He also looked good in his last appearance at UMBC earlier this week. He did a nice job today."
The Midshipmen will look to split the four-game weekend series at Army with a 12 noon doubleheader tomorrow afternoon at Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field.
DIAMOND NOTES
- Navy is now 100-90 all-time against Army ... the Mids are 40-48 against the Black Knights all-time in West Point.
- The Midshipmen (5-5) and the Black Knight (5-5) are now in a three-way tie for third place in the Patriot League standings ... Bucknell (6-4) leads the way following its doubleheader sweep at Holy Cross (5-5) on Sunday ... Lafayette (6-5) swept Lehigh (3-6) in Easton, Pa., without allowing a run to cross the plate.
- Sunday's seven-inning opener lasted nearly three full hours, clocking in at two hours and 59 minutes ... the first-four innings took exactly two hours to complete.
- The nightcap of Sunday's twinbill was called in the middle of the eighth inning (7:06 p.m.) due to darkness ... the temperature had dropped to 42 degrees by the end of the game with a wind chill of 34 degrees and wind gusts coming out of the northwest near 30 miles per hour.
- The Midshipmen blasted three home runs in the opener ... it tied the season-high for the team, which was last accomplished against Lafayette on March 29 in Annapolis.
- Steven Soares's solo shot to lead off the sixth inning in the opener was his sixth round-tripper of the year ... it moved him into a tie for 10th place on the program's single-season home run list with seven other players, most recently accomplished by Mitch Harris in 2008.
- Michael Speciale's four-bagger in the opener was the 15th of his career ... that moved him into a tie for fifth place on the program's career home run list with Craig Candeto (2001-04).
- Navy's bullpen on Sunday allowed only one earned run in 6.2 innings of work with only one walk allowed to go with five strikeouts.
- Southpaw reliever Jeff Murdza appeared in both games and did not allow a run in his 3.1 innings on the hill ... he struck out three and allowed just one hit and one walk ... he has not allowed a run over his last-three outings, a span of 6.2 innings.
- Navy's defense committed five errors and had three passed balls during Sunday's doubleheader ... coming into the day, the Midshipmen had committed a total of five errors over their last-10 games and had only two passed balls all year.
