ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy baseball team (0-0) begins its 2019 season on the road this weekend in North Carolina. The Midshipmen travel to Shelby, N.C. to take on Gardner-Webb (0-0) at Keeter Stadium for a three-game set Friday-Sunday.
The Bulldogs were originally slated to host the series at their home ballpark in Boiling Spring, N.C., but the series has been shifted to the home of the American Legion World Series in Shelby, N.C. First pitch of the series is set for Friday at 4 p.m. Game two begins at 2 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.
Navy comes into the series after posting a 38-16 record last season and it finished as Patriot League Regular-Season Champions for the fourth-straight season after winning a share of the regular-season crown after compiling an 18-6 record in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen also finished as runners-up in the Patriot League Tournament.
Following its fourth-straight 30-win season in 2018, Navy has six offensive players coming back from a year ago that started at least 45 games. Leading the way is junior
Zach Biggers who finished as the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and was selected as the Preseason Player of the Year in the league. Biggers led the Midshipmen with a .343 batting average last season and recorded 20 doubles to finish the season second in the program record books for most doubles in a season. The Walhalla, S.C., native finished 2018 with 32 RBIs and a .479 slugging percentage, en route to earning Second Team Preseason All-American honors by
Collegiate Baseball News prior to the start of the upcoming season.
Navy also returns its leading home run hitter from a year ago in senior captain
Christian Hodge. Hodge finished last year with five long balls, including two against Army at Fenway Park last season to pace the Midshipmen to its Star victory over the Black Knights. Hodge also compiled 17 doubles and 34 RBIs, while earning First Team All-Patriot League honors a first base.
Along with returning First Team All-Patriot Leaguer performers in Biggers and Hodge,
Liam Lowery and
Noah Song are back for the Midshipmen after being named to the first team last year, while
Michael Coritz and
Jared Leins are back following second team honors in 2018. Biggers, Lowery and Song were also selected to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team late last month.
On the mound, the duo of Song and Leins will pace a youthful group of starters and relievers for Navy in 2019. The Midshipmen have just two upperclassmen pitchers in Song and
Jackson Zoch who are seniors this season to go along with seven sophomores and seven freshmen on the pitching staff.
Song highlights the group of returning pitchers following numerous preseason honors coming into the year. The native of Claremont, Calif., was named a Third Team Preseason All-American by
Collegiate Baseball News and
Perfect Game, along with being named to the Golden Spikes Preseason Watch List for the national player of the year in all of amateur baseball. Within the Patriot League, Song was also selected as Preseason Pitcher of the Year. As a junior, he compiled a 1.92 ERA in 14 starts and finished the season at 6-5 with 121 strikeouts.
Gardner-Webb comes into the 2019 season after posting a record of 31-27 overall and finishing fifth in the Big South last season. The Bulldogs were 14-13 in conference and lost to High Point in the semifinals of the conference tournament last year. Last season, Gardner-Webb finished in the top three of its conference in home runs with 51 and RBIs with 314. On the mound, the Bulldogs finished with a team ERA of 5.14 but was tied atop the Big South with 14 saves.
Entering the weekend, Gardner-Webb has a total of 19 upperclassmen on its roster, compared to 14 underclassmen. Of the upperclassmen, the Bulldogs have their top two hitters back from a season ago in Corey Howard and Chris Clary. Howard compiled a .347 batting average and Clary was just behind with a .322 mark. Gardner-Webb has one of its top power bats back in 2019 with Chandler Redmon returning for his senior campaign after belting 14 home runs and driving in 48 runs. On the mound, the Bulldogs have to replace their top two starters, but return their leading closer in Jarrett Thompson who finished 2018 with eight save and a 5.51 ERA.
This marks the second-straight season Navy and Gardner-Webb have opened the season against one another. Last year, the two teams faced off for the first time ever and the Bulldogs scored 10 runs over the seventh and eighth innings to seal a 12-0 victory over the Midshipmen to start its 2019 season at Wake Forest's opening weekend event. Navy is set to start its season in North Carolina for the fifth-consecutive season, where they have picked up at least a pair of victories in each of the last four seasons.
Opening Day across college baseball is set for this Friday. Navy takes on Gardner-Webb at 4 p.m. at Keeter Stadium in Shelby, N.C., to start a three-game set. The Midshipmen then face off against the Bulldogs on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. to wrap up the series.
