March 19, 2010
Box Score
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Princeton starting pitcher David Palms did not allow an earned run over 8.2 innings as the Navy baseball team fell by a final of 6-2 on Friday afternoon at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium. The Midshipmen dropped to 13-4 on the year, while the Tigers improved their mark to 3-8.
Palms scattered eight hits and two unearned runs with one walk and four strikeouts to earn his first win of the year. The Princeton southpaw has allowed just one earned run over his 19.1 innings of work this spring.
"(David Palms) was able to keep us off balance during the whole game," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "He got us to continually hit his pitches. He was either able to jam us inside or get us out in front away. That is the definition of pitching. He made us mishit the ball the entire day."
Navy's Ben Nelson (Fr./Winter Springs, Fla.) was solid in his first-career start but was unable to get any support from the offense in getting tagged for his first loss of the year. He allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on eight hits over six innings of work with one walk and three strikeouts.
"Ben (Nelson) had pitched several innings before today, but we were able to see what he has in a starting role for the first time," said Kostacopoulos. "He did a good job and gave us six solid innings."
Princeton was able to get to Nelson first with an unearned run in the fifth, followed by a pair of runs in the sixth. The Tigers were able to put the game away with a three-run eighth, as Tom Boggiano and Matt Bowman delivered RBI-singles to highlight the frame.
Navy scored its two runs with two outs in the ninth. Kendall Bolt (Sr./Stockton, Calif.) smacked a one-out double and moved to third on a groundout to second. Pinch-hitter Steven Soares (Sr./Coral Springs, Fla.) hit a fly ball to left that Brandon Englert misplayed on the fly, which allowed him to reach third and Bolt to score. Soares would score on a Josh Moore (So./Mills River, N.C.) single to left.
Bolt was the lone Navy batter to record a multi-hit performance on Friday. He finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and a run scored.
"Kendall (Bolt) had been struggling but made some nice adjustments today," stated Kostacopoulos. "His three base hits were pretty well-hit balls. We need to get him back involved with the offense."
The Midshipmen will host the Tigers for a 12 noon doubleheader tomorrow before closing out the four-game set with a 12 noon contest on Sunday. Admission is free for all home Navy baseball games and live stats will be available via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)
DIAMOND NOTES:
- Navy is now 49-40 all-time against Princeton, a former foe in the Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League (EIBL) ... the Tigers have won four-straight meetings with the Mids.
- Starter Ben Nelson delivered a quality start (6.0+ IP, 3- ER) in his first time out as a starter in his career on Friday ... the Midshipmen have tallied three quality starts over the last-five games.
- Matthew Curley extended his hitting streak to eight games with his single in the first ... during this span, he's batting .419 (13-for-31) with seven runs scored and seven RBIs.
- Navy's pinch hitters are batting .471 (16-for-34) this season ... Jonathan Wright, who had a pinch-single in the eighth on Friday, is 6-for-6 with a walk and six RBIs in a pinch-hitting role this season.
- The Midshipmen committed four errors in Friday's loss, the most since a five-error performance in a 10-9, 11-inning win over Air Force on Feb. 28 ... prior to Friday's game, the Mids had committed only four errors in their last-six games.
- Friday's 66-degree temperature at first pitch marked the warmest game that Navy has played in this spring ... the Midshipmen defeated North Carolina Central in Durham on Feb. 21 with a game-time temperature of 63 degrees.
