April 25, 2009
Game One Box Score (Holy Cross 13, Navy 8)
Game Two Box Score (Navy 12, Holy Cross 11)
WORCESTER, Mass. - The Navy baseball team rallied from a deficit after the fifth inning three times to either tie or take the lead in the nightcap to lead the Midshipmen to a split of Saturday's twinbill against Holy Cross at Fitton Field. The Midshipmen dropped the opener, 13-8, before coming back to win game two, 12-11.
The Midshipmen moved to 18-24-1 on the year and 8-10 in the Patriot League, while the Crusaders went to 19-23 overall and 9-7 in league play. Lafayette (9-9 Patriot League) split their home doubleheader with Army on Saturday and maintain a slim one-game lead over the Mids heading into the final doubleheader of the regular season. If Navy were to pull even with the Leopards, it would advance to the Patriot League Tournament by virtue of having won three-of-four in the season series.
"Tonight, we fought as if our season was on the line and it was," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "They way we played showed it. We battled all night and fought from behind, which is even harder to do."
Trailing 6-2 going into the sixth inning of the nightcap, Steven Soares (Jr./Coral Springs, Fla.) and Mike Hoosier (Jr./Pomona, N.Y.) led off with back-to-back singles, before pinch-hitter Jonathan Wright (So./Arden, N.C.) drew a one-out walk to load the bases. After a strikeout, Mike Guadagnini (So./Virginia Beach, Va.) legged out an infield single to bring home Soares. Matthew Curley (Jr./Boston, Mass.) stepped to the plate and fell behind in the count, 0-2, before smashing a grand slam over the left-centerfield fence to give the guests their first lead of the game, 7-6.
Holy Cross stormed back with four runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Navy reliever Luke Roberts (So./Midland, N.C.) came on with a runner on third with one out and got a strikeout and a popout to avoid further damage. Navy used that momentum to bounce back with a three-run seventh to tie the game at 10. Matt Sweisthal (Jr./Spring, Texas) worked a leadoff walk and moved to second on a Soares hit by pitch. Hoosier laced a RBI-single into right field prior to a Jeff Bland (So./Basking Ridge, N.J.) hit by pitch to load the bases. Wright watched four balls pass by to bring in Soares and a ground ball double play plated Hoosier.
The Crusaders came back with a two-out solo home run to left-center in the bottom of the seventh, but the Midshipmen re-claimed the lead with a two-run eighth. Curley led off with a single to center, followed by a Bolt walk and a Soares one-out free pass loaded the bases. Curley would score on a wild pitch and the other two runners also moved up 90 feet on the play. Hoosier would walk to re-load the bases before Bland brought in Bolt with the fourth walk of the inning.
Holy Cross would make things interesting in the ninth against Roberts. The inning began with a popout glancing off the third baseman's glove to put the tying run on base. After a perfectly placed bunt single, Roberts fielded his position on a sacrifice attempt and was able to get the lead runner at third base. The next batter followed with a warning track shot to right that Hoosier was able to get under and make the catch, while the lead runner tagged up and moved to third on the play. Roberts beared down and was able to get the final batter of the contest to ground to the shortstop Guadagnini, who tossed to second for the win.
Roberts earned the win to improve his mark to 2-0 on the year. He allowed one run on three hits over 3.2 innings with one walk and one strikeout.
"Again, I cannot say enough for Luke (Roberts)," said Kostacopoulos. "What he did tonight and how he handled himself out there was impressive."
The Midshipmen offense pounded out 11 hits and walked nine times - seven of which came in the final-four innings - during game two. Guadagnini, Curley, Soares, Hoosier and Bland each had a pair of base knocks in the win. The latter-four of that group also drew a walk and combined to drive in nine runs.
"The offense stopped trying to hit their pitchers' pitches and it worked to our benefit later in the game," stated Kostacopoulos. "We were able to take more pitches, get some runners on base and move them along. It wasn't pretty, but rather an old fashioned battle."
In the opener, Navy jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first with a RBI-single by Jonathan Berkowitz (Jr./Parkland, Fla.). Holy Cross answered with a three-run first before the Mids plated a pair of runs in the second to knot the game at three. Hoosier belted a solo shot to left and Curley tripled to right before scoring on a Guadagnini single.
Holy Cross responded with a five-run third and a three-run fourth to take an 11-3 lead - one that it would not relinquish. However, the Midshipmen would not go quietly, as it cut into the deficit with two runs in the fifth and sixth and one in the seventh. Berkowitz blasted a two-run home run in the fifth, followed by a two-run single by Bolt in the sixth. Hoosier came up with a RBI-single up the middle in the seventh that made the score 13-8, but a flyout and a double play would end the game.
"Unfortunately, we got into a deficit that we could not overcome," said Kostacopoulos. "We weren't able to throw strikes and our defense was not solid. However, the good thing - and it carried over into the next game - was that we kept working at digging into the deficit. We didn't just go down 1-2-3."
Despite the setback, Navy out-hit Holy Cross, 13-10. Guadagnini, Bolt, Berkowitz, Hoosier and Curley all chipped in with two hits for the Midshipmen. Berkowitz and Hoosier both homered, while Curley had a triple and Guadagnini recorded a two-bagger.
Navy starter Wes Olson (So./Indianapolis, Ind.) was tagged for the loss, as he allowed eight runs - four of which were earned - on eight hits over 2.2 innings with three walks and five strikeouts. His record fell to 3-5 on the year.
The Midshipmen and the Crusaders will take to Fitton Field tomorrow for a 1 p.m. doubleheader. Both games will have live stats via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)
DIAMOND NOTES
- Navy is now 53-21 all-time against Holy Cross ... the Midshipmen own a 21-8 record against the Crusaders in Worcester, Mass. ... Navy is 14-3 all-time against Holy Cross since head coach Paul Kostacopoulos took over after the 2005 season.
- Navy remains one game behind Lafayette for the fourth and final Patriot League Tournament spot ... Army (11-7) took the opener from Lafayette (9-9), 12-2, before the host Leopards came back to win the nightcap, 14-8 ... Bucknell (11-7) defeated Lehigh (4-12) in game one, 7-3, prior to the host Mountain Hawks winning game two, 11-10.
-Navy's 20 runs scored on Saturday were the most in a Patriot League doubleheader since it plated 20 runs in sweeping Bucknell on April 19, 2008, in Lewisburg, Pa.
- The 11 runs allowed by the Midshipmen in Saturday's game two victory were the most since they gave up 12 in a 13-12 victory at Bucknell to close out the 2006 slate ... it's the second time in 10 games that Navy has allowed 10-plus runs in a win ... the Mids defeated Army in West Point, 12-10, on April 13.
- The Midshipmen belted four home runs on Saturday ... the Mids went deep twice in both game one and game two ... that marked Navy's sixth and seventh multi-home run games of the year ... it also pushed Navy's season home run total to 28, which ranks as the third-highest mark in school history.
- Matthew Curley's go-ahead grand slam in game two on Saturday was the second long ball of his career ... it was Navy's first grand slam since Ryan McGinn smashed a grand slam at Coppin State on April 26, 2006 ... it was also Navy's first grand slam against a Patriot League opponent since Matt Foster brought home four with one swing of the bat against Lehigh on May 12, 2002, during the Patriot League Tournament.
- Navy continues to swing a hot bat in warm weather as a team ... when the game-time temperature is above 60 degrees, the Midshipmen are hitting .356 (125-for-351) as a team in 13 games with 123 runs scored ... Saturday was the warmest weather Navy has played in all season ... first-pitch temperature for the opener was 83 degrees and it was 82 degrees for the start of game two at 6:06 p.m.
- Mike Hoosier blasted his first-career home run during the opener on Saturday ... in his last-11 starts, he's batting .385 (15-for-39) with 13 runs scored, three doubles, one home run and seven RBIs.
- Over the last-29 games, Mike Guadagnini has recorded 21 multi-hit games ... within this streak, he's batting .443 (54-for-122) with 33 runs scored, 11 doubles, four triples, three home runs and 20 RBIs.
