March 5, 2011

Box Score Photo Gallery

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy baseball team picked up a pair of wins on Saturday afternoon as it won both games of a doubleheader with Central Connecticut State at Max Bishop Stadium. Navy erased a 2-0 deficit with three runs in the final two innings to win game one, 3-2, and then scored nine runs off 10 hits to take the second game, 9-2.

"Both games were very different," said Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "The first game was really tight, we only had a few hits, and somehow we managed to get ourselves a win.

"In game two we did some good things, but it was really spearheaded by Johnny Schoberl. With 15 strikeouts between Johnny and Joel Rinehart, they really took the pressure off the defense and led the way."

Navy starting pitchers Sam Long (game one) and Schoberl (game two) put together back-to-back solid outings as each limited the Blue Devils to just two hits.

Schoberl fanned a Navy season-high 12 batters and allowed just two hits in 6.1 innings of work en route to his first win of the season in game two. In the opener on Saturday, Long struck out five and walked one batter in five complete innings.

Relievers Rinehart and Wes Olson were equally as effective out of the bullpen. Olson pitched two scoreless innings in game one to earn the win and improve to 2-0. In game two, Rinehart allowed just one hit and struck out three in 2.2 innings.

"Those guys all made the pitches we needed to make today and I think that was the big difference," Kostacopoulos said.

With Navy trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, CCSU starting pitcher Nick Nuemann plunked Josh Moore and walked Dylan Wheeler to start the inning. A wild pitch allowed both runners to advance, then Jonathan Wright brought in the first run of the day with a single to right field.

Nick Driscoll tied the game in the next at-bat with a sacrifice fly to center field that brought in Wheeler.

Olson replaced Long with two runners on base in the top of the sixth inning and retired three consecutive to keep the score tied at two.

Taylor Cato led off the bottom of the sixth inning and reached on an error by the shortstop. After Jeff Bland moved him over to second with a sacrifice bunt, a ground out by pinch hitter David Norman got Cato over to third base.

Facing CCSU reliever Roy Natoli, Wheeler took a wild pitch for ball four and when the ball escaped catcher Danny Hickey, Cato took off down the baseline and touched home plate safely to put Navy ahead, 3-2.

Olson then retired three of four hitters in the top of the seventh to give Navy the win.

In game two, Wheeler gave Navy the first runs of the game when he tripled to right field, bringing in Cato and Greg Dupell. Wright followed with a double that scored Wheeler to give Navy a 3-0 lead.

After the Blue Devils' Pat Epps made the score 3-2 with a two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning, the Mids responded with a total of six runs in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings to put the game out of reach.

"We were able to answer them pretty quickly and that was key," Kostacopoulos said.

An RBI single by Nick Driscoll followed by a two-RBI double off the bat of Alex Azor made it a 6-2 after four innings.

In the fifth, Wheeler and Wright both picked up their third RBIs of the game to extend the Navy lead to 9-2. Wheeler singled to right field to score Dupell and Wright then hit a bases-loaded single through the middle that brought in two more runs.

"We certainly picked up some big hits and I think those defined the game," said Kostacopoulos.

Navy finished game two with a total of 10 hits as it improved to 5-6 on the season.

The Midshipmen will go for the series sweep on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.

Notes...
• Johnny Schoberl's 12 strikeouts in game two on Saturday were the most by a Midshipman since Sam Long had 13 Ks vs. Monmouth on March 13, 2009.
• Dylan Wheeler's three RBIs in game two on Saturday marked the second time in the last five games he has recorded three RBIs.
• Central Connecticut's State's three hits in game two were the fewest by a Navy opponent in a nine-inning game since Feb. 22, 2009 when Pittsburgh had two hits in a 3-1 Navy win.
• With eight RBIs apiece, Wheeler and Jonathan Wright are now tied with Andrew Hahn for the team lead.