April 8, 2011

Navy| Army

Navy Travels to Army for Annual Showdown
Army and Navy will resume their storied rivalry this weekend when they meet in a four-game series at Doubleday Field in West Point, N.Y. The two programs will meet for the 197th time in game one of Saturday's doubleheader; beginning at 12 p.m. Sunday's twinbill is slated to begin at 1 p.m.

About Army
Army opened Patriot League Play last weekend with a sweep of Holy Cross at home ... At 11-14 overall, the Black Knights are 8-3 in their last 11 games and had won five consecutive before falling at home to Fairfield, 9-3, on Tuesday ... As a team, Army is hitting .247 and has two regular starters hitting over .300 in Zach Price (.325) and Joey Henshaw (.325) ... Ben Koenigsfield is Army's leader in RBIs with 18, while Henshaw and Clint Moore each have 16 RBIs ... The Army pitching staff enters the weekend with an ERA of 5.77 with opponents hitting .309 ... Logan Lee (2-5) leads the Army pitching corps in nearly every category, including: appearances (seven), innings pitched (40.0) and strikeouts (34) ... In just four appearances, Koenigsfield has picked up three saves in 5.0 innings of work without allowing an earned run.

Common Opponents
Navy and Army share three common, non-league opponents in Georgetown, Maryland and UMass. Army went 1-4 against the three teams as it defeated UMass (10-9), but fell to Georgetown (7-4) and was swept in a three-game set at Maryland.

Navy went 2-1 versus the three schools, defeating Georgetown (9-2) and UMass (7-3) and falling to Maryland (6-2).

The Series
Navy owns a 102-94 (.520) advantage in the all-time series against Army. Army leads, 49-41, in games played at home.

Determining the "Star" Winner
The winner of the four-game Army-Navy series will claim the coveted "Star". If the series ends in a tie at two games apiece, the winner of the first game of the series will be awarded the Star.

Army-Navy in 2010-11
In competition across all varsity sports this season, Navy leads Army, 12-8, and holds a 10-7 advantage in Star Games entering the weekend. Navy has claimed Star-Game victories in men's soccer, golf, men's cross country, men's swimming and diving, women's swimming and diving, football, women's indoor track, gymnastics, men's basketball and wrestling.

Navy needs one more Star win to clinch a tie against Army and two more Star wins to clinch the Star Series for the 15th consecutive year.

It will be a busy weekend for Army-Navy competitions as in addition to baseball, the two will meet in men's and women's track and field on Friday in Annapolis, and then the men's tennis teams will square off in West Point on Saturday.

Mids Riding a Hot Streak
Navy enters this weekend with four consecutive victories and wins in eight of its last 10 games. In their last four games, the Mids have outscored opponents, 39-15, as the offense has collected 48 hits over the span. Here's a closer look at what the Midshipmen have done to be successful in their last 10 games:

• The pitching staff has allowed four or fewer runs in six of the last 10 games...Navy pitchers have also walked two or fewer opposing batters in six of the last 10 games with a total of 69 strikeouts and just 27 walks.
• Navy has hit .295 as a team over the last 10 contests and has five players hitting over .300 during the span - led by Alex Azor's blistering .447 batting average.
• The Mids have stolen at least one base in eight of the last 10 games.

Dupell Keeps Rolling
After being named Patriot League Player of the Week last week, Greg Dupell has continued to perform well at the plate as the sophomore is currently in the midst of a team-high, nine-game hitting streak. Over the Mids' last nine games, Dupell has hit .429 (15-for-35) with 11 RBIs, raising his batting average by .045.

Currently, Dupell has the team's third-best batting average, at .333, and his 13 extra-base hits and .532 slugging percentage lead the Midshipmen.

The Tampa, Fla., native garnered the Patriot League Player of the Week award on March 28 after helping Navy to three wins over Princeton where he had multiple hits in all three victories and hit .438 in the four-game series.

Azor One of the Nation's Top Hitters
Alex Azor continues to be the Mids' most consistent hitter this season. When NCAA statistics were released on Monday, Azor was tied for 23rd in the nation with 45 hits. Azor now has just six strikeouts in 123 at-bats, and entering the week Azor was ranked as the nation's 22nd-toughest hitter to strike out with an average of one K per 20.5 at-bats. His 123 at-bats were the second highest of any player ranked in the top 25 on the list.

The junior from Miami, Fla., is currently hitting .382, which is second best in the conference, and his 123 at-bats leads the league. His 47 hits are 10 more than any other player in the conference.

Double Up
Another reason for the Mids' recent success has been their defense, specifically their ability to turn double plays. In its last four games, Navy has turned 11 double plays, including five alone in its 9-5 win over Lehigh in game two last Saturday. The Mids' capability to turn two last weekend proved critical, as six of Navy's nine double plays in the series were inning-enders.

With 23 double plays this season, Navy still has a way to go to catch last year's team, which turned a program-record 48 double plays.

Rinehart Leads the `Pen
Sophomore reliever Joel Rinehart has been Navy's top arm out of the bullpen this season. Rinehart has 12 appearances this season and his three saves are tied for third in the conference.

Rinehart, who currently has an ERA of 2.12, has thrown 29.2 innings and has 26 strikeouts and only eight walks.

The Kingwood, Texas, native has limited opponents to a .207 batting average this season and just two of the 23 hits he has allowed have been for extra bases.

Milanes Leads in RBIs
Designated hitter and catcher Dave Milanes is among the Patriot League's leaders in RBIs as he enters play this weekend with a total of 31.

Milanes has been one of the team's best hitters of late, as he has a hit in nine of the Mids' last 10 games. He has also produced 10 RBIs over the last 10 games, including two career-best, four-RBI games (vs. Princeton and Lehigh).

The sophomore has raised his average by .026 in his last 10 games as he has struck out just once. He is currently hitting .321, which is fourth highest on the team.­

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.

Keeping Runners Honest
The Navy pitching staff has six pickoffs this season, which is the most by the Midshipmen since 2008 when they 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
Navy is 15-1 this season when holding its opponents under five runs. The Mids have limited opponents to five or fewer runs in their last eight wins and opponents have crossed home plate just 13 times in the last four games.

Mids Go 12-6-1 in March
After a tough 2-5 start to the season in February, Navy responded to go 12-6-1 (.658) in the month of March. The month included two, four-game winning streaks as Navy posted its most wins in the month since 2008 when it went 15-8 (.652).

Freshmen in the Outfield
Several young players have had the chance to step into the Navy lineup through the first 30 games.

Freshman Brandon Beans, who started the first eight games before missing the next eight due to injury, is currently hitting .247 and earlier this season recorded a team season-high 11-game hitting streak. He currently leads the league with five triples.

Though he has had five appearances on the mound, freshman Taylor Cato has also made 11 starts in the outfield where he has hit 18-for-50 (.360) with five doubles.

Young Guns Out of the Bullpen
Freshman pitchers Dwayne Gammage and Preston Gainey have made the most out of their combined 17 appearances this season. With 9.1 innings pitched in nine appearances, Gammage has been one of the team's most dependable relievers. Gammage, who has an ERA of 0.96, 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 vs. Jacksonville State.

In five appearances totaling 10.2 innings, Gainey is holding hitters to a .211 batting average and has a 3.38 ERA.

Bouncing Back
Navy has shown resiliency this season in bouncing back after close losses. In all four losses that have been by two or fewer runs, Navy has responded each time to win the next game. Three of those four Navy wins have been by four or more runs.

Nelson Returning to Form
A year after earning Freshman All-America and All-Patriot League honors, Ben Nelson is back in the familiar position near the top of the conference in strikeouts. When statistics were released on Monday, his 36 Ks and 41.2 innings pitched were best in the conference.

In his last outing, Nelson pitched a complete game in Navy's 9-4 win over Lehigh. Nelson didn't allow the leadoff batter to reach base until the seventh inning as he scattered seven hits, struck out six and didn't issue a walk.

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.

Bland Moves Up Career Charts
With three home runs this season, senior captain Jeff Bland now has 12 for his career and is tied 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. He is now fourth on Navy's all-time caught stealing list, having thrown out 33 runners.

Up Next
Navy will travel to George Mason on Wednesday for a 3 p.m. game, and then return to Annapolis for its first home Patriot League series, as it will host Bucknell on Saturday and Sunday.