March 18, 2011

Navy| Yale

Navy Hosts Yale in Four-Game Set
After going 3-1 on its spring trip to Florida, the Navy baseball team will host Yale in a four-game series beginning on Saturday. The two teams will meet in a pair of doubleheaders that will begin at 12 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

Both doubleheaders will be seven and nine-inning games.

Navy 7-1-1 in its Last Nine Games
Navy started its 7-1-1 streak with a pair of one-run victories over UMBC (4-3) and Central Connecticut State (3-2) on March 4 and 5, respectively. Since then, Navy has outscored its opponents, 61-44; going 5-1-1.

As a team, the Mids have hit .276 in their 7-1-1 streak and have three players hitting over .300. On the base paths, Navy has swiped 16 of its season-total 23 bases in its last nine games.

About Yale
Yale enters the weekend 3-6, coming off a 2-1 loss to Central Connecticut State in 17 innings...Freshman infielder Cale Hanson leads the team in batting average at .381, but does not have any RBIs yet this season...Senior Andy Megee, currently hitting .259, is the team leader in RBIs with five.

Rising to the Challenge
Navy is 3-0 this season against teams that played in last year's NCAA Baseball Championship. The Midshipmen defeated Central Connecticut State twice (3-2, 9-2) and most recently they defeated Jacksonville State, 8-5, on March 16. In the three wins, Navy hit .295 as a team and limited the two opponents to a combined batting average of just .208.

The Midshipmen will have the opportunity to improve their record against teams that took part in last year's NCAA Tournament when they meet conference-foe Bucknell on April 16-17.

Step In and Step Up
A handful of early-season injuries have given several young players the chance to step into the Navy lineup through the first 17 games.

Though he has had five appearances on the mound, freshman Taylor Cato has also made five starts in the outfield where he has hit 7-for-21 (.333) with three doubles. Another freshman that has made an impact in the outfield is Matt Kilby, who is 5-of-16 (.312) at the plate this season in five games, including two starts.

Young Guns Out of the Bullpen
Freshman pitchers Dwayne Gammage, Harrison Pollard and Preston Gainey have made the most out of their combined nine appearances this season. With 7.1 innings pitched in six appearances, Gammage has been one of the team's most dependable relievers so far this season. Gammage, who has an ERA of 1.23, hasn't allowed a run since his first-career appearance on Feb. 19 at Presbyterian and has only allowed a total of five hits.

Gammage earned his first-career win on March 8 vs. Coppin State and picked up his first-career save in on Wednesday vs. Jacksonville State.

In his second appearance of the season on Wednesday against Jacksonville State, Preston Gainey helped Navy maintain its lead as he threw 2.2 innings of solid relief - allowing one run off two hits.

In his one appearance this season, Harrison Pollard did not allow an earned run in 1.2 innings.

Azor Heats Up
Junior center fielder Alex Azor posted one of his best four-games stretches of his career this past week at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The Miami native made the most of his return to his home state as he went 12-for-20 (.600) at the plate, drove in six runs and scored nine runs. In the last four games, Azor raised his batting average by .078 and enters the weekend series with Yale hitting .382.

Azor started the four-day trip with a 5-for-5 performance against Central Michigan on Sunday. His five-hit game was the first by a Midshipman since April 26, 2008 when Mike Guadagnini had five hits against Holy Cross.

Azor enters this weekend with a team-high eight-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in the past 13 games.

Cato Earns His First Win
Freshman Taylor Cato made sure the Mids came home from Florida with a winning record as he picked up his first-career victory on Wednesday against Jacksonville State. In his third-career start, Cato retired the first 10 hitters he faced and allowed three runs (two earned) off four hits. He also struck out a career-best six batters.

Lighting Up the Scoreboard
When Navy and Chicago State met for the first time in program history on March 15, the two teams combined for one of the most-high scoring games in recent Navy history. The Mids defeated the Cougars, 17-14, while the two teams combined for 32 hits. The 31 total runs were the most combined runs in a game for Navy since it defeated Lafayette, 30-2, on March 28, 1998 in Easton, Pa.

Milanes Leads in RBIs
With seven RBIs in his last four games, designated hitter Dave Milanes now leads the team in RBIs with 16. Milanes hit .444 in the RussMatt Invitational and tied his career best with three RBIs against Chicago State. He is currently hitting .308 and is tied for second on the team with three doubles.

Spreading the Wealth
A total of five Midshipmen have at least 10 RBIs so far this season, including: Dave Milanes (16), Alex Azor (13), Jonathan Wright (11), Greg Dupell (10) and Jeff Bland (10). The five have combined for nearly 62% of the team's RBIs.

Schoberl Shuts `Em Down
In his last four outings, starting pitcher Johnny Schoberl has lowered his ERA by over 6.00, as it is now just 2.95 - best among all Navy starters.

Schoberl allowed just two runs in 5.2 innings in his last start vs. UMass. Prior to that, the right-hander struck out 12 batters to earn his first win of the season as he limited Central Connecticut State to just two runs off two hits in 6.1 innings. His 12 punch-outs were the most by a Midshipman since Sam Long had 13 Ks vs. Monmouth on March 13, 2009.

Both Ends of the Spectrum
Navy has proven it can win with both pitching and hitting this season - even when neither is at its best in the same game. Navy is 2-1 when it scores in double digits and is 5-2-1 when it collects at least 10 hits, with both losses coming by a combined three runs.

Conversely, Navy is 2-0 in the two games where it has produced its fewest number of hits this season. Navy was limited to just three hits in back-to-back games, but was able to pull out wins on both occasions, defeating UMBC, 4-3, and Central Connecticut State, 3-2.

Bland Moves Up Career Charts
With three home runs through 17 games this season, senior captain Jeff Bland now has 12 for his career and has moved into a tie with Edward Abner (1975-77) for ninth place on Navy's all-time home run list. Bland started the season with two home runs in the series at Presbyterian and then added another in the Mids' 13-3 win over Air Force on Feb. 27.

Behind the plate, Bland threw out a career-best four runners in Navy's March 9 game at Towson, giving him a career total of 29 runners caught steeling. He is now fourth on Navy's all-time caught steeling list. Steven Soares (2007-10) holds the school record with 77 runners caught stealing.

Bland has also been plunked by four pitches this season, which gives him 23 for his career - fourth most in program history.

Young Mids
After graduating 10 seniors last spring, the Mids return with a much younger squad in 2011 as 25 of team's 35 players are either freshmen or sophomores.

Navy's Opening Day lineup in 2011 included two seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and one freshman that, entering the season, had collectively started a total of 335 games with 457 total combined appearances. By comparison, Navy's lineup on Opening Day 2010 featured far more experience with four seniors, three juniors and two sophomores that had a combined 841 appearances and (+384 games) 733 games started (+398 games).

This season's Navy roster includes the most freshmen, and highest total of underclassmen, since the NCAA instituted a 35-player roster limit in 2009.

All Even After 10...
Navy's 8-8 tie in 10 innings with Towson on March 9 was its first since a 5-5 deadlock with Delaware in the third game of the 2009 season. In its 116-year history, Navy has 37 ties.

Up Next
Without a midweek game, Navy will return to action next weekend when it hosts Princeton for two doubleheaders, beginning at 12 p.m. on Saturday.