Feb. 24, 2010
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy baseball team came back from an early seven-run hole to defeat Maryland Eastern Shore, 12-10, in its home opener at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
The Midshipmen, who are off to their best start since 1981, improved their record to 4-0 on the year. The Hawks saw their mark drop to 0-4.
Trailing 8-1 going into the bottom of the fourth, Navy began to chip away at the deficit. Matthew Curley (Sr./Boston, Mass.) delivered a two-out, RBI-single to left to began the rally. One inning later, the Midshipmen pulled even with a six-run frame. Michael Speciale (Sr./Pearland, Texas) led off with a double to left-center and would come around to score on a Kendall Bolt (Sr./Stockton, Calif.) single up the middle. After a walk and an infield single loaded the bases, pinch-hitter David Milanes (Fr./Iselin, N.J.) lifted a sacrifice fly to center that made the score 8-4. Following a wild pitch that scored Mike Hoosier (Sr./Pomona, N.Y.), Curley came through again with a two-out hit, this time to right field that plated a pair. Curley would knot the game at eight on Alex Azor (So./Miami, Fla.) double to center.
Maryland Eastern Shore would not go quietly, as it regained the lead with a two-run seventh. However, Navy answered back with a three-run bottom half of the frame to take its first lead of the day. Pinch-hitter Jonathan Wright (Jr./Arden, N.C.) drew a walk and Guadagnini followed one out later with a bunt single to put runners on first and second. After a foul popout, Azor lined a ball off the pitcher's leg that went directly to the second baseman, Shaquille Bagwell, but made a low throw to first that could be corralled cleanly and pinch-runner Dylan Wheeler (Fr./Novato, Calif.) raced home from second. Speciale delivered a RBI-double down the left-field line to tie the game at 10 and Azor would score the go-ahead run on a fielding error by the third baseman, Elliott Alston.
The Hawks looked to knot the game in the top half of the eighth, as leadoff hitter Phil Vaughn drew a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. After southpaw reliever Chris Murray (Sr./Navarre, Fla.) struck out the next batter, second-baseman Curley made a diving stab on a grounder up the middle, came to his feet and fired a strike to first to end the threat.
Navy used that additional momentum to tack on an insurance run in the bottom of the inning with two outs. With runners on the corners, Nick Driscoll (Jr./Riverview, Fla.) was going on a third-to-first pickoff move and beat the throw to second, which allowed pinch-runner Andrew Hahn (So./Ellicott City, Md.) to steal home on the play.
"I thought our ability to come back twice was the most significant part about today's game," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "Coming back from a deficit for a second time was even better. We were able to stay in the game the whole time and were able to squeeze a win out."
Curley went 3-for-6 with three RBIs, all with two outs, and two runs scored, while Speciale recorded a 4-for-5 effort at the plate with two doubles, two RBIs, a run scored and his fourth stolen base on the year. As a team, the Midshipmen pounded out 14 hits and stole five bases.
"Matthew (Curley) and Michael (Speciale) were our offensive stars of the day," said Kostacopoulos. "Matthew played exceptionally offensively and defensively. He gave us chances to come back with his two-out hits. He also made two very nice defensive plays on balls to his right.
"I thought we ran the bases very well today. We did some smart things on the base paths. Perhaps that is the margin of victory."
Reliever Drew Carlson (Sr./Boca Raton, Fla.) did not allow an earned run over 3.1 innings of work with no walks and a strikeout during his 44-pitch outing to keep the Midshipmen in the game. Murray earned his first win of the year with 2.1 hitless, shutout innings with a pair of punchouts.
"Drew (Carlson) and Chris (Murray) combined were really good," stated Kostacopoulos. "Drew pitched in a situation to keep us in the game with no margin of error. He gave us 3.1 innings of good baseball. We just did not help him in the seventh with two errors."
Maryland Eastern Shore plated three in the first and three in the second, sandwiched around a Speciale RBI-single in the first, to take a 6-1 lead. The Hawks tacked on two more runs in the fourth, as both of Carlson's inherited runners came around to score.
The Midshipmen will return to action this Friday when they begin a three-game set with service academy foe Air Force at historic Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Ga. First pitch for Friday's contest is slated for 1 p.m., and live stats will be available via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)
DIAMOND NOTES:
- Navy's 4-0 record marks the best start since the 1981 Mids won their first-eight games of the spring.
- The Midshipmen have scored 41 runs over its first-four games this spring, the highest total during the same span since the 1971 squad plated 44 runs over their first-four contests.
- Despite the record-setting snowfall that has blanketed the Mid-Atlantic this winter, today's contest between Navy and Maryland Eastern Shore in Annapolis represented the furthest-north, outdoor baseball game played between two full-fledged NCAA Division I programs this year.
- The Midshipmen are 76-36-3 (.674) all-time in home openers ... Navy is slated to play 11 home games before any other team in the Patriot League will host a game this spring ... the Mids are scheduled to play 31 of their 51 games this spring at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
- Navy is now 16-2 all-time against Maryland Eastern Shore ... the Midshipmen have won 12-straight meetings, dating back to the 2004 season.
- Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos has directed the Midshipmen to a 24-8-2 (.735) record in the month of February since taking over the reigns in 2006 ... prior to Kostacopoulos, the Midshipmen were 29-63-1 (.317) all-time in February games.
- Michael Speciale has stolen a base in each of the team's four games this spring ... as a team, the Midshipmen are 13-for-14 on stolen-base attempts.
- Ten different Midshipmen scored a run and nine Mids recorded a base knock in Wednesday's victory.
- Mike Guadagnini's bunt single in the seventh inning extended his hitting streak to 19 games, dating back to last spring ... during this span, he's hitting .419 (36-for-86) with 28 runs scored.
