May 13, 2011

No. 4 Bucknell (24-26, 10-10) vs. No. 1 Navy (29-21-1, 12-8) Dates Sat., May 14 at 12 p.m. (DH) | Sun., May 15 at 12 p.m. (if nec.) Location Annapolis, Md. | Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium (1,500) Podcast Coach Paul Saturday's Probable Starters Jr. RHP Ryan Ebner (6-1, 4.01) vs. So. RHP Ben Nelson (5-5, 5.64) Sr. RHP Dylan Seeley (2-6, 6.41) vs. Sr. LHP Sam Long (4-4, 4.42) Sunday's Probable Starters Sr. RHP Trey Frahler (2-6, 5.81) or Jr. RHP Jack Boehm (3-3, 6.29) vs. TBD Game Notes Bucknell | Navy Season Stats Bucknell | Navy Live Video Streaming on Navy All-Access Sat. Game 1 | Sat. Game 2 | Sunday Live Stats | | Twitter Updates @NavyAthletics

Navy Hosts Bucknell in Patriot League Tournament Semifinals
Navy returns to the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2008 as it hosts Bucknell in a best-of-three series this weekend at Max Bishop Stadium. Action begins at 12 p.m. on Saturday with a pair of nine-inning games. If neither team sweeps Saturday's doubleheader, the series will be decided with a single game at 12 p.m. on Sunday.

Admission is free for this weekend's games and additional parking will be available at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with a shuttle providing transportation to and from Max Bishop Stadium.

Navy Back in the Patriot League Tournament
Navy is making its ­13th appearance in the Patriot League Tournament and first since 2008. This season marks the fifth time Navy has been the tournament's No. 1 seed and first since 2002 - also the last year it won the championship. The Mids are 8-7 at home in the tournament, all-time. In Navy's last semifinal series at home in 2008 as a No. 2 seed, it defeated Holy Cross in the best-of-three series, 2-1.

A complete year-by-year breakdown of Navy's Patriot League Tournament appearances is available in the game notes.

About Bucknell
Fourth-seeded Bucknell played its way into the Patriot League tournament by taking three of four games form Army on the final weekend of the regular season ... The Bison finished 10-10 in conference play and enter the weekend at 24-26 overall ... Bucknell is 7-3 in its last 10 games ... Six Bison were named to the All-Patriot League teams this week, including: starting pitcher Ryan Ebner (first team), first baseman Doug Shribman (first team), outfielder Drew Constable (first team), relief pitcher Alex Cillo (second team), outfieler Bob Donato (second team) and designated hitter Matt Lamore (second team) ... Ebner was voted the Patriot League Pitcher of the Year ... The junior right-hander is 6-1 with a 4.01 ERA and has held opponents to a .229 batting average ... Shribman, a senior who is currently hitting .320, is the league's all-time leader in home runs as he hit a Patriot League-best 16 homers this season and drove in 49 runs ... Constable enters the weekend with a .318 batting average and 22 RBIs ... Junior outfielder Gerry Runyan leads the Bison with a .341 batting average ... The Bucknell pitching staff ranks fouth in the conference with a 5.73 ERA; its .290 opponent batting average is tied with Army for second best ... On the bases, the Bison have been successful in 18 of 27 steal attempts.

Non-Conference Common Opponents
The Bison and Midshipmen had four common, non-league opponents during the regular season in Air Force, UMass, Jacksonville State and Towson. On its spring trip in March, Bucknell defeated Air Force, 5-1, but fell to UMass, 6-4, and Jacksonville State, 9-1. Bucknell split a doubleheader with Towson at home.

Navy defeated UMass and Jacksonville State, took two of three games from Air Force and tied Towson.

The Last Series, April 16-17
Game 1: Bucknell 2, Navy 1 - Bucknell starting pitcher Ryan Ebner held Navy to just four hits and struck out seven in a complete-game win. With Navy leading 1-0 in the top of the fifth, the Bison tied the game and then took the lead for good on a bases-loaded walk.

Game 2: Navy 5, Bucknell 2 - Navy pitchers Johnny Schoberl and Wes Olson combined to hold the Bison to six hits and struck out a total of 12 batters. With the game tied a two in the third inning, Nick Driscoll hit a two-run single to give Navy the lead.

Game 3: Navy 6, Bucknell 5 (8) - Nick Driscoll made it two consecutive games with a game-winning hit as he knocked in Josh Moore with a walk-off RBI single in the eighth inning. Navy trailed, 3-0, in the first inning and, 5-4, heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Game 4: Bucknell 15, Navy 7 - The Bison used a six-run second inning to take the lead as Drew Constable finished the game 2-for-5 with seven RBI to give Bucknell a series split.

The All-Time Series
Navy leads the all-time series, 62-53, as the two teams split their four game set April 16-17 in Annapolis. It marked the third time in the last five seasons the two teams split their regular-season series.

In Patriot League Tournament games, Bucknell leads the series, 10-6, and has won the last two games (2008).

All-League Honors
Six Midshipmen were voted to the All-Patriot League teams, in addition, Paul Kostacopoulos was named Coach of the Year, while Taylor Cato garnered Rookie of the Year honors.

Relief pitcher Wes Olson and designated hitter Dave Milanes were both named to the All-Patriot League first team, while starting pitchers Sam Long and Johnny Schoberl joined first baseman Greg Dupell and second baseman Nick Driscoll on the second team.

Navy and Bucknell led all schools with six student-athletes named to the All-Patriot League teams. It marked the second time since 2008 that six Midshipmen were named to the All-Patriot League teams.

The Coach of the Year award is the first for Kostacopoulos, who is the fourth Navy coach to garner the honor. Cato is the first freshman in academy history to be named Patriot League Rookie of the Year since the award's inception in 2002.

Dupell Garners Academic Award
Greg Dupell was named to the inaugural Academic All-Patriot League Team, which was selected by the conference's sports information directors. Dupell, who was one of 12 players named to the team, is currently hitting .317 and is a history major with a 3.25 GPA.

Successful Seniors
Navy's six seniors - Jeff Bland­­ (Navy Supply), Nick Driscoll (Surface Warfare Officer), Sam Long (Marine Ground), Wes Olson (Navy SEALs), Luke Roberts (Naval Flight Officer) and Jonathan Wright (Naval Pilot) enter the weekend with a career record of 111-93-3 (.544); its 111 wins are the second most by any class in program history.

True Relief
One of the major reasons for the success of the Navy pitching staff has been the solid performances out of the bullpen from Preston Gainey, Wes Olson and Joel Rinehart.

Gainey, who has twice been named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week, is 1-0 with two saves in nine appearances. He has allowed just eight runs in 23.0 innings, and has 29 strikeouts and 11 walks.

At 6-1 on the year, Wes Olson became the first Midshipman to win six games since Oliver Drake went 6-3 in 2008. The All-Patriot League first-team honoree has picked up wins in each of his last three outings, allowing three earned runs off 10 hits in 13.1 innings. The righty hasn't allowed more than one run in eight of his last 10 appearances.

Rinehart leads the staff with a 1.99 ERA. In 20 outings, totaling 40.2 innings, the sophomore has allowed just 11 runs (nine earned). He hasn't allowed a run in 14 of his 20 total appearances and has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.8:1.

On the season the Navy bullpen has an ERA of 4.89.

Getting It Done Away From Home
Navy's success in Patriot League play can partially be attributed to its 8-4 record in conference road games. Navy's eight Patriot League wins on the road were the most since the 2003 team also won eight conference road games and went 12-8 in the league.

Navy outscored its Patriot League foes, 76-51, on the road this season and the pitching staff had an ERA of 4.34 in those games - 1.03 lower than its season ERA of 5.37. Offensively, six Mids hit .300 or better in conference road games.

Current Mids in the Patriot League Tournament
Five current Midshipmen saw action as freshmen the last time Navy was in the Patriot League Tournament in 2008. Nick Driscoll started all five games at second base, while Jeff Bland started four games behind the plate and one as designated hitter. Jonathan Wright, along with pitchers Sam Long and Wes Olson, also saw action.

Here's a look at each player's combined statistics from the five games:

Jeff Bland, 5 GP, 5 GS - 4-for-20 (.200, 4 RBIs)
Nick Driscoll, 5 GP, 5 GS - 3-for-16 (.188, 2 R, 1 RBI)
Jonathan Wright, 5 PG, 5 GS - 1-for-6 (.167)
Sam Long, 1 GP, 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R
Wes Olson, 1 GP, 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R

No Place For a Nervous Person
So far this season, Navy has had 14 games decided by one run - the most since 2008 when it played in 18 one-run games, going 9-9.

Here is a look at how Navy has done in one-run games dating back to 2006:
2011: 8-6 (.571)
2010: 6-5 (.545)
2009: 5-4 (.556)
2008: 9-9 (.500)
2007: 9-7 (.563)
2006: 10-4 (.714)

Young Production
Navy entered the season with a total of 25 freshmen or sophomores on its roster, and to date, it has received significant offensive production from its group of underclassmen. This season, 12 freshmen and sophomores have combined for 148 of the team's 280 total RBIs (53%) and 209 of the team's 416 hits (54%).

By comparison with last year's senior-laden team, the freshmen and sophomores in 2010 accounted for just 21% of the team's total hits and 19.8% of the team's total RBIs.

Azor Leads the League in Hits
With a total of 68 hits, Alex Azor has been one of the Patriot League's top hitters and has led the conference nearly all season. Azor leads the conference in runs scored with 45, while Greg Dupell is second with 44.

When NCAA statistics were released on May 10, Azor ranked as the nation's 17th-toughest hitter to strikeout, with an average of one K per 19.9 at-bats. Azor was the only Patriot League player to be ranked in the top 50 in the nation in the category.

With a total of 151 hits through 125-career games, Azor is 10 hits away from breaking into the top 15 on Navy's all-time hits list.

Hold `Em Under Five
Through 51 games, Navy has held its opponents to under five runs 29 times and is 25-4 in those contests. Over the last nine games, Navy has limited opponents to five runs or fewer on six occasions, going 5-1 in those contests.

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.

Extra Bases
The 2011 Midshipmen have moved into the top 15 on the program's single-season doubles and triples lists. With 22 triples, the Mids have the fifth most in program history, while their 86 doubles rank eighth best.

Navy's 22 triples are the most since the 2008 team had 25.

Milanes Leads in RBIs
Designated hitter Dave Milanes is among the Patriot League leaders in RBIs as he enters play this weekend with a total of 47.

Earlier this season, Milanes had a career-high, nine-game hitting streak. He also reached base safely in 15 consecutive games, tying Alex Azor for the longest streak of the season.

The sophomore entered the season with just two at-bats in his career and is currently hitting .315. His 13 multi-RBI games this season are the most by any Mid.

Driscoll Comes Through in the Clutch Against Bucknell
Senior Nick Driscoll delivered the winning hits in consecutive games against Bucknell earlier this season. In Navy's 5-2 win over Bucknell, Driscoll went 3-for-4 and delivered the winning runs with a two-RBI single. Driscoll topped that performance the next day with an extra-inning, walk-off hit. With the game tied at five in eighth inning, Driscoll belted a single through the middle that scored Josh Moore and gave Navy a 6-5 win.

Rising to the Challenge
Navy is 5-2 this season against teams that played in last year's NCAA Baseball Championship. Most recently, Navy split four games with Bucknell (April 16-17). The Midshipmen previously defeated Central Connecticut State, twice (3-2, 9-2) and then Jacksonville State, 8-5, on March 16.

Nelson Ranks Near the Top of the Conference
Sophomore pitcher Ben Nelson ranks near the top of the Patriot League in several categories, including: innings pitched (67.0, first), strikeouts (59, second), games started (13, first) and complete games (four, tied for first).

Nelson (5-5) threw complete games in four of his five Patriot League starts and enters this weekend with a 5.64 ERA.

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. 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.

Mids Win 13 Games in April
Navy went 13-9 in April as it posted its most wins in the month since the 2002 squad also posted 13 wins in the month.

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.

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 2010 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.