April 15, 2011

Navy| BucknellSat. Game 1| Sat. Game 2| Sun. Game 1| Sun. Game 2

Navy Hosts Bucknell in First Home Conference Series
After eight consecutive Patriot League games on the road, Navy will play host to Bucknell this weekend in its first home conference series of the year. The two teams will play doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, beginning at 12 p.m. both days.

Live video streaming for all four games of this weekend's series will be available on Navy All-Access at NavySports.com. For more information on Navy All-Access, click here. A reminder that this weekend's video streaming will include live stadium audio rather than play-by-play commentary.

About Bucknell
Bucknell enters the weekend at 14-20, overall, and 2-6 in Patriot League play ... The Bison lost three of four games vs. Lafayette at home to start conference play, and last weekend, they lost three of four games at Holy Cross ... Four of Bucknell's six losses in the conference have been by three runs or fewer ... As a team, the Bison are hitting .264 and have an on-base percentage of .352 ... Gerry Runyan leads the team with a .327 batting average in 113 at-bats ... Doug Shirbman, the conference's leader in home runs with 11, leads the team in RBIs with 32 ... On the mound, the Bison have a team ERA of 6.32 with opponents hitting .293 against them ... The staff has a total of 204 walks and 160 strikeouts ... Jr. RHP Alex Cillo leads the team with 3.43 ERA in 11 appearances, totaling 21.0 innings ... Junior RHP Jack Boehm has the lowest ERA of any starter at 4.86.

Common Opponents
The Bison and Midshipmen share three common non-league opponents in Air Force, UMass and Jacksonville State. Bucknell faced all three teams on its spring trip in Florida and defeated Air Force, 5-1, but fell to UMass, 6-4, and Jacksonville State, 9-1.

Navy defeated both UMass and Jacksonville State and took two of three games for Air Force.

The Series
Navy leads the all-time series, 60-51. The Bison have taken three of four games in each of the last two seasons, while the teams split four-game sets in 2007 and `08.

Azor One Continues To Be One Of The Nation's Top Hitters
Alex Azor, the Mids' most consistent hitter this season, enters Saturday with a total of 55 hits on the season. When NCAA statistics were released on Tuesday, Azor was tied for 13th in the nation with 53 hits. Azor now has just six strikeouts in 143 at-bats, and entering the week, he ranked as the nation's 12th-toughest hitter to strike out, with an average of one K per 23 at-bats. His 138 at-bats were the second highest of any player ranked in the top 39 on the list.

Currently, the junior from Miami, Fla., is hitting .385, which is second best in the conference. His 138 at-bats at the beginning of the week were the most in the league.

Azor has gone hitless in consecutive games just twice this season and is currently in the midst of an eight-game hitting streak.

With a total of 138 hits through 109-career games, Azor is 23 hits away from breaking into the top 15 on Navy's all-time hits list.

Gainey Earns Rookie of the Week Honors
Freshman reliever Preston Gainey was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Monday after earning his first-career save last weekend. Gainey held Army scoreless over the final 3.1 innings to ensure Navy's 4-3 victory over the Black Knights in game two of Saturday's doubleheader. Gainey struck out six, didn't issue a walk and allowed just one hit in his sixth appearance of the season.

The Pompano Beach, Fla., native also tossed two-complete innings of scoreless baseball in Navy's 9-2 win over Georgetown on April 6. Gainey pitched the fifth and sixth innings and allowed just two hits.

In 14.0 innings this season, Gainey has a 2.57 ERA with a total of 17 strikeouts and just seven walks.

Rinehart Remains Strong Out Of The `Pen
Sophomore reliever Joel Rinehart, one of Navy's top arms out of the bullpen this season, picked up his fourth save of the year in Navy's 3-2 win over Army last weekend. Rinehart pitched the final 1.2 innings and allowed one run off one hit.

In 14 appearances this season, Rinehart has an ERA of 2.48 and has struck out 27 batters and walked just 10.

The Kingwood, Texas, native has limited opponents to a .221 batting average this season and just two of the 27 hits he has allowed have been for extra bases.

Dupell Keeps Rolling
Greg Dupell has continued to perform well at the plate this season as the sophomore is currently hitting .323. His .548 slugging percentage leads the Mids and his 24 RBIs rank second on the team.

The Tampa, Fla., native, who earlier in the season garnered the Patriot League Player of the Week award, homered in both games of last Sunday's doubleheader with Army. Dupell hit a solo shot in game one for the second run of the game, and then in game two, he gave Navy a 5-4 lead in the top of the eighth inning with two-run blast to right field. He joined Jeff Bland as the second Midshipman this season to homer in consecutive games.

Entering play this weekend, Dupell has five home runs.

Milanes Leads in RBIs
Designated hitter and catcher Dave Milanes is among the Patriot League leaders in RBIs as he enters play this weekend with a total of 33.

Milanes currently has a team and career-high, nine-game hitting streak. In 34 games this season, only twice has he has gone hitless in consecutive games.

The sophomore entered the season with just two at-bats in his career and is currently hitting .321. He has reached base safely in his last 15 games, which ties Alex Azor for the longest streak by any Mid this season.

Rising to the Challenge
Navy is 3-0 this season against teams that played in last year's NCAA Baseball Championship and this weekend it gets its shot at a fourth team - Bucknell - that was a part of last year's field. 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.

Nelson Returning to Form
A year after earning Freshman All-America and All-Patriot League honors, Ben Nelson is back in the familiar position as one of the best pitchers in the conference. When statistics were released on Monday, his 43 Ks and 47.2 innings pitched were best in the league.

Nelson has thrown complete games in his last two starts. In those two games, he hasn't allowed the leadoff batter to reach base in a combined nine of the 13 total innings.

Keeping Runners Honest
The Navy pitching staff has seven pickoffs this season, which is the most by the Midshipmen since 2008 when they also had seven in the entire season. The Mids did not record a pickoff last season and had just two in 2009.

The Navy record for pickoffs in a season is 11, set by the 2006 squad.

Hold `Em Under Five
Through 35 games this season, Navy has held its opponents to under five runs in 19 games and is 17-2 in those contests. The Mids have limited opponents to five or fewer runs in seven of their last 10 games; in those seven games, Navy is 6-1.

By comparison, last season Navy held its opponents to fewer than five runs in 32 of its 51 games and went 22-10 in those contests.

Freshmen in the Outfield
Several young players have had the chance to step into the Navy lineup through the first 35 games.

Freshman Brandon Beans, who started the first eight games before missing the next eight due to injury, is currently hitting .237 and earlier this season recorded a team season-high 11-game hitting streak. He currently leads the league with five triples. His average of .19 triples per game was sixth best in the NCAA when statistics were released on Tuesday.

Though he has had seven appearances and five starts on the mound, freshman Taylor Cato has also made 17 starts in the outfield where he is currently hitting .361 with five doubles.

Turning Two
Navy turned nine double plays earlier this season in its series with Lehigh, including a season-high five in its 9-5 win over the Mountain Hawks. The Mids' capability to turn two in the series proved critical, as six of their nine double plays in the series were inning-enders.

Young Guns Out of the Bullpen
Dwayne Gammage joins Preston Gainey as another freshman pitcher that has made the most out of his appearances this season. With 11.1 innings pitched in nine appearances, Gammage has been one of the team's most dependable relievers. Gammage, who has an ERA of 1.59, has only allowed just two earned runs and has 13 strikeouts and four walks

Gammage, who is 1-0, earned his first-career win on March 8 vs. Coppin State and picked up his first-career save vs. Jacksonville State.

Bouncing Back
Navy has shown resiliency this season in bouncing back after close losses. Navy has lost five games by two or fewer runs and has responded to win the following game on four occasions.

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.

The 5-for-5 Club
Both Alex Azor and Jeff Bland have gone 5-for-5 in games this season. Bland has accomplished the feat twice within an 11-game span. Most recently, he went 5-for-5 in Navy's 12-2 win over Lehigh on April 3. Prior to that, Bland went 5-for-5 with two doubles and four RBIs in a 15-7 win over Yale on March 19.

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

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.

Patriot-League Preseason Poll
The Patriot League Preseason Poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches and sports information contacts, selected Navy 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.

Up Next
Navy will host Maryland Eastern Shore on Tuesday at 4 p.m. and then head to Holy Cross for a four-game set with the Crusaders on Saturday and Sunday.