April 24, 2010

Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score

Navy improved to 26-16 overall and 6-8 in the Patriot League, while Holy Cross fell to 19-19 on the year and 7-7 in league play.

Trailing 3-1 with one out and nobody on in the seventh and final inning in the opener, Navy began to rally back. Against Holy Cross closer Ryan George, who entered the day with a 0.92 ERA, team captain Steven Soares (Sr./Coral Springs, Fla.) drew a walk and was pinch-run for by Chris Murray (Sr./Navarre, Fla.). Murray moved to second on an Andrew Hahn (So./Ellicott City, Md.) walk, followed by a passed ball to put both runners in scoring position. Jonathan Berkowitz (Sr./Parkland, Fla.) came off the bench and delivered the game-tying single to right. After a fielder's choice and a hit by pitch, Alex Azor (So./Miami, Fla.) ripped a single to right field to score Mike Guadagnini (Jr./Virginia Beach, Va.) from second and give the Mids their third walk-off win of the year.

"Down to two outs against a quality pitcher with incredible numbers and you rally for three in the final inning to win, that's going to lift you," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "There were some clutch performances there. We had to scratch and claw to come back. Jonathan (Berkowitz) obviously had the big hit, but we had to work to get those three runs. It was big."

Holy Cross manufactured the first run of the game in the fourth before Navy tied it up in the fifth. Soares led off the frame with a single and would eventually score on a Matthew Curley (Sr./Boston, Mass.) two-out, RBI-single to left. However, the game would not remain knotted for long, as the Crusaders plated two in the sixth before Navy's late-game heroics in the seventh.

Navy starter Ben Nelson (Fr./Winter Springs, Fla.) delivered another quality start on Saturday, as he allowed three runs on six hits over six innings with two walks and four strikeouts. Reliever Wes Olson (Jr./Indianapolis, Ind.) tossed a scoreless seventh inning with a strikeout to earn his third win of the year.

"Ben (Nelson) went out there and did a good job for us," said Kostacopoulos. "His performance kind of got lost in the rally. Wes (Olson) also didn't allow them to extend their lead in the seventh and gave us a chance to come back."

Guadagnini went 2-for-3 with a double, stolen base, run scored and a walk to lead Navy's offense. Each team totaled seven hits in game one.

The Midshipmen channeled that positive momentum into a strong performance by Long in game two, as he recorded his second complete game shutout of the spring. He allowed just five hits and one walk with two strikeouts and induced the Crusaders into three groundball double plays that led to him finishing the afternoon with only 96 pitches thrown.

"The numbers really tell the story of Sam's performance today," stated Kostacopoulos. "He was able to get out of a couple scrapes with some double play balls. He pitched a complete game in a literal sense and from the perspective of him doing exactly what needed him to do."

Navy jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, as Curley smacked a RBI-double down the left-field line, followed by an Azor RBI-single to right and a RBI-groundout from Michael Speciale (Sr./Pearland, Texas).

The Midshipmen used some two-out magic in the fifth with nobody on to extend its cushion to six runs. Curley got things started with a single, followed by an Azor walk before Speciale launched his sixth home run of the year over the fence in left.

Navy added a run in the sixth with a RBI-triple to left-center by Hahn and plated two more in the eighth on a two-run single by Azor.

The top-four hitters in Navy's order combined to go 9-for-18 with six runs scored and eight RBIs. Curley went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI out of the No. 2 spot, while three-hitter Azor finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored. Leadoff hitter Guadagnini went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, while Speciale knocked in four runs out of the cleanup position.

Navy totaled 12 hits and drew five walks, with only one strikeout, in the second game.

"The offense did a good job in game two and the top of the order really stood out," stated Kostacopoulos. "All the guys throughout the order put on good at bats and many came up with big hits."

The Midshipmen and the Crusaders will close out the four-game series with a 12 noon doubleheader tomorrow. Admission is free for all Navy baseball home games at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium. Live video through Navy All-Access and live stats through GameTracker will be available for both games on www.NavySports.com(.)

DIAMOND NOTES:
- Navy recorded its third walk-off win of the year in the opener on Saturday ... Jonathan Wright delivered one in the 11th inning against Central Connecticut State on March 7 and Jonathan Berkowitz produced one in the ninth inning against UMBC on March 28.
- With its performance in the opener, Navy registered its 14th come-from-behind victory in 2010.
- Courtesy of its walkoff win and shutout victory, Navy's senior class recorded its 112th and 113th wins in their careers to make them the winningest class in the program's 115-year history ... the previous record was 111 wins by the Class of 2008 ... prior to Saturday's doubleheader, Navy's 10 seniors were recognized in a pregame ceremony.
- The Midshipmen accumulated their 26th win of the year on Saturday, which ties them for the ninth-highest single-season win total in school history with the 1998 Mids (26-17).
- Sam Long recorded his second complete game shutout of the year on Saturday, tying him for the seventh-most in a single season in school history ... he is the first to have multiple shutouts since Yale Eckert in 2008 ... Long's performance was the first complete game shutout against a Patriot League foe since Mitch Harris blanked Bucknell in Lewisburg on April 19, 2008 ... Long's effort was also Navy's first nine-inning, complete game shutout in more than a decade.
- Ben Nelson and Sam Long each delivered quality starts (6+ IP, 3- ER) on Saturday to increase the team's total to 20 this spring ... Nelson has recorded one in all-five of his career starts, while Long leads the team with his six quality starts.
- Navy's pitching staff held Holy Cross to a .231 (12-for-52) batting average with no extra-base hits and three runs on Saturday ... coming into the game, the Crusaders led the Patriot League with a .329 team batting average and 7.86 runs per game.
- Jonathan Berkowitz's game-tying, two-run pinch-single in game one upped his average to .533 (8-for-15) with six RBIs as a pinch-hitter this spring ... as a team in 2010, Navy is batting .426 (26-for-61) with 20 RBIs in a pinch-hitting role.
- Navy's defense did not commit an error in either game on Saturday ... it's the sixth time in the last-nine games that Mids have played error-free baseball ... within that span, the Mids have made just three errors and boast a .990 fielding percentage with eight double plays turned.
- In other action around the Patriot League, Lehigh (8-6 PL) swept Bucknell (6-8 PL) in Lewisburg, Pa., and Army (11-3) split its home doubleheader with Lafayette (4-10 PL).