Feb. 17, 2011

Navy Opens 2011 Season Against Presbyterian
The Navy baseball team opens the 2011 season on Friday with a three-game series against Presbyterian. The Mids and the Blue Hose will meet on Friday and Saturday at 2 p.m. and then complete the three-game set on Sunday at 12 p.m. All three games will be played at the Presbyterian College Baseball Complex.

All-Patriot League Returners
Navy will return two All-Patriot League performers in 2011in outfielder Alex Azor and starting pitcher Ben Nelson. Azor is the team's leading returner in nearly every offensive category, including batting average (.362) and hits (67). His 67 hits last season tied Matt Curley for second on the team and rank as the eighth highest single-season total in program history.

The Miami native proved to be one of the toughest outs in the conference last season, as he put together two 12-game hitting streaks and reached base safely in 42 of the 48 games in which he appeared. He also struck out a team-low six times in 185 at-bats.

Nelson went 5-3 and posted a conference-leading 2.34 ERA as a rookie. Though just a freshman, he proved durable as he tied Sam Long for the most innings pitched on the team with 61.2, led the team with three complete games, and lasted at least 6.0 innings in all seven starts. The right-hander also held opponents to a team-best .242 batting average, which was second best in the conference.

Young Mids
After graduating 10 seniors last spring, the Mids return in 2011 with a much younger squad as 25 of team's 35 players are either freshmen or sophomores. The team is combined of 16 freshmen, nine sophomores, four juniors and six seniors. It is the most freshmen, and highest total of underclassmen, on the Navy roster since the NCAA instituted a 35-player roster limit in 2009. Prior to the NCAA-mandated roster limit taking effect in 2009, the Mids had 15 freshmen and 16 sophomores on the roster in 2008.

Returning Production
The Midshipmen return 14 letterwinners from last year's team. Below is a breakdown of Navy's returning offensive and pitching production from last year's team:

Offense
Runs - 38.4% (126-of-328)
Hits - 38.5% (20-of-522)
RBIs - 36.9% (110-of-298)
Doubles - 40.9% (36-of-88)
Triples - 29.4% (5-of-17)
Home Runs - 20.8% (5-of-24)
Stolen Bases - 38.6% (34-of-88)

Pitching
Wins - 76.7% (23-of-30)
Games Started - 90.2% (46-of-51)
Saves - 38.4% (5-of-13)
Innings Pitched - 77.3% (327.1-of-423.1)
Strikeouts - 78.4% (207-of-264)

Kostacopoulos Nears 150th Win at Navy
Head coach Paul Kostacopoulos enters his sixth season at the helm of the Navy baseball program. This season will be Kostacopoulos' 22nd year as a head coach and he owns a career record of 653-445-5 (.594). With the Mids, he is 149-113-3 (.569).

Last season, Kostacopoulos led the Mids to 30 wins, marking the fourth time in the last five seasons Navy won at least 30 games. Prior to his arrival in 2006, the Mids won at least 30 games in just three of their previous 109 seasons.

All-Time Record in Season Openers
Navy has won five of its last six season-opening games and is 66-47-2 all-time on Opening Day. The Mids are 9-21 in season openers on the road, but have won four of their last five.

Looking to Pick Up Where They Left Off
Alex Azor, Nick Driscoll and Jeff Bland all ended the 2010 season with multiple-game hitting streaks. Azor enters 2011 with a 12-game streak, while Driscoll and Bland ended last season with four and three-game streaks, respectively.

Navy in South Carolina
The Midshipmen are making their first appearance in the state of South Carolina since 2003 when they opened the season with a three-game set at the College of Charleston.

Patriot-League Preseason Poll
The Patriot League Preseason Poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches and sports information contacts, was released on Wednesday and Navy was selected to finish fifth. The league's defending champion, Bucknell, was picked to finish second as Army, which received six first-place votes, was selected to win the conference.

Holy Cross was picked third and Lehigh was selected fourth.

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Highlights Azor, Nelson
In its 2011 Patriot League season preview that compiled answers from coaches around the conference, sophomore pitcher Ben Nelson and junior outfielder Alex Azor both received praise.

Azor was named the "Toughest Hitter to Strike Out," and the "Most Underrated Hitter." He was also selected as one of the "Three-Best Pure Hitters."

Nelson was chosen as on of the conference's "Top-Three Starting Pitchers."

Nelson a Freshman All-American
Pitcher Ben Nelson became the sixth player in Navy history to earn Freshman All-America accolades as he was recognized by both Collegiate Baseball Magazine and Ping! Baseball. Nelson joins Dave Self (1998), Jake Miller (2000), Pete Curnow (2002), Drew Lydon (2007) and Mike Guadagnini (2008) as Navy's other Freshman All-American selections.

Navy in the Patriot League in 2010
Navy posted the conference's second-highest team batting average at .314, while its team ERA of 4.38 was also second best in the league. The Mids' .962 fielding percentage was also the second highest in the league.

The Mids entered conference play last season at 17-8, but came up on the short end of several close games in Patriot League play as they lost seven conference games by two or fewer runs to finish with a 7-13 record in the league.

Mau Joins Coaching Staff
Ryan Mau joined the Navy baseball staff as an assistant coach in August 2010 after five seasons at VMI. Mau's primary responsibility at the Naval Academy is working with the pitching staff.

Mau served as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at VMI after two years at Marist College. He began his coaching career at his alma mater, the College of Charleston, where he played from 1998-2001.

Up Next
Navy will head to Kinston, N.C. to meet rival Air Force in the inaugural Freedom Classic, a three-game series that will begin on Friday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. The two teams will meet at 2 p.m. on Saturday and conclude the series at 12 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be played at Grainger Stadium, home of the Kinston Indians, the class A advanced affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.