FROM CBB NEWS SOURCES
Game 1: Holy Cross 2 Lafayette 1
Game 2: Holy Cross 6 Lafayette 1
WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross baseball team turned to it’s bullpen for success this afternoon as the Crusaders swept Lafayette in a Patriot League doubleheader at Fitton Field by scores of 2-1 and 6-1. Holy Cross improves to 17-20 on the season (9-5 Patriot League) while Lafayette falls to 18-16 (6-8 Patriot League).
Sophomore Matt Shapiro (Raynham, Mass.) recorded his third complete game of the season, going seven innings in game one, giving up just two hits and one run while striking out three batters. Sophomore Bobby Holmes (Dedham, Mass.) pitched six innings in the second game, allowing one run on five hits while fanning five. Sophomore Ryan George (Seekonk, Mass.) came in to close out the last three innings, allowing just two hits and striking out three, earning his first save of the season.
Senior Gil Gomez (Lake Worth, Fla.) led the Holy Cross offense, going 4-for-7 at the plate for the day including three triples, one double, two RBIs, and scored one run.
In game one, Holy Cross scored two runs in the bottom of the third as sophomore Matt Perry (Sudbury, Mass.). doubled to left center field, driving junior Billy Cupelo (Franklin, Mass.) and sophomore John Sills (Milton, Mass.) who both reached on back-to-back hits to right field. Joe Ezekiel scored the lone Lafayette run in the top of the fifth, after reaching on a single. The Crusaders held on to pick up a 2-1 victory in the matinee game.
In the second game, the Crusaders’ big bats came out in the bottom of the first inning as junior Jake Gorman (Norfolk, Mass.) singled to center field, scoring Perry from second base. With runners in scoring position, Gomez hit a two-out triple to right field, putting Holy Cross ahead, 3-0. Lafayette scored its lone run in the top of the third as Holy Cross held the Leopards scoreless for the remainder of the game. The Holy Cross offense continued to stay hot, rallying in three more runs in the bottom of the seventh. Gomez hit a leadoff double and then scored on single by junior Tim Hughes (Andover, Mass.). Freshman Brendan McCrea (Hicksville, N.Y.) drove in two more Holy Cross runs as he singled to left field, making the score 6-1.
The Crusaders and the Leopards return to action tomorrow, Sunday April 20, wrapping up their four-game series with a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 12:00 p.m.
Game 1: Lehigh 4 Army 1
Game 2: Army 13 Lehigh 4
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Chris Simmons went 3-for-5 with four runs batted in and Army bounced back from a one-hit loss in the opener to cruise past Lehigh 13-4 in the second game, Saturday afternoon at Doubleday Field. Lehigh right-hander Joe Matteo fired 5.1 innings of no-hit ball in the first game to lead Lehigh to a 4-1 victory as the teams split their Patriot League doubleheader.
By virtue of the split and a Holy Cross doubleheader sweep of Lafayette Saturday in Worcester, Army dropped back into a tie for second place in the Patriot League standings with Navy. The Mids swept two games from Bucknell to pull even with the Black Knights at 8-6 in league play, one game behind first-place Holy Cross (9-5). Bucknell (7-7), which entered the day locked in a three-way tie for first place with Army and Holy Cross, fell all the way to fourth place with the pair of losses to Navy.
After Matteo dominated the Black Knights’ batters in the opener, Army’s offense wasted little time breaking out in the second game. The Black Knights jumped on Lehigh starter Kevin Mihalik for three runs on four base hits in the bottom of the first inning. Consecutive one-out singles by Andy Ernesto, Cole White and Kevin McKague delivered Army’s first run of the contest. A two-run single by Simmons two batters later stretched the margin to 3-0.
Army would go on to score at least one run in each of the next five innings to open a 13-3 lead after six innings of play. The Black Knights plated single runs in the second, third and fourth innings before blowing open the contest with a six-run fifth that built Army’s lead to 12-1.
Clint Moore stole home on the back end of a successful double-steal for Army’s run in the second inning, while Kyle Stramara’s hard-hit double down the right-field line accounted for the Black Knights’ single run in the third. Army moved ahead 6-1 when Cole White’s sinking line drive eluded a diving Joe Ercolano in center field and rolled all the way to the fence. White circled the bases and was safe on a close play at the plate for his first career inside-the-park home run, his fourth round-tripper of the season.
The Black Knights (16-20 overall, 8-6 Patriot League) parlayed four hits, three walks, a hit batsman and a Lehigh fielding error into six runs in the fifth inning to put the game away. Two-run singles by Moore and Simmons highlighted the Army uprising as the Black Knights powered to a 12-1 advantage.
Ben Koenigsfeld (4-3) pitched five-plus innings to earn the triumph on the mound for Army. He struck out four and did not walk a batter. Sean Rainbird allowed three hits and one run over the final four frames to notch his first collegiate save. The freshman right-hander struck out two and did not walk a batter. Mihalik (1-4) suffered the loss for Lehigh, yielding five hits and five runs (four earned) in two-plus innings of work. He walked three and did not register a strikeout.
Stramara and White finished with two hits apiece to join Simmons in leading Army’s 13-hit attack.
Matteo (5-3) was in complete comand in the opener carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning. The senior right-hander allowed one walk in both the first and second innings, then retired 12 straight Army batters entering the sixth. After inducing Tony Capozzi to ground out to begin the sixth, Matteo walked Moore. Ernesto followed with the Black Knights’ lone hit of the game, a sharp single to left field.
Army ended Matteo’s shutout bid later in the inning when Moore scored on groundout by White after moving to third base on a balk.
Lehigh (19-23 overall, 4-10 Patriot League) touched Army starter Drew Clothier (3-5) for a single run in the first inning on a leadoff triple to right field by Ercolano and a two-out, RBI single through the left side of the infield by Brendan McHaheran. The Mountain Hawks took control in the fourth inning, benefitting from a pair of walks to plate three runs on two base hits. Andy Russell and Joe Bellini sandwiched run-scoring singles around an RBI groundout by Logan Marshall to account for the Mountain Hawks’ scoring in the decisive frame.
Clothier absorbed the loss for Army, allowing five hits and four runs in three-plus innings. He struck out one and walked two. Matteo, meanwhile, struck out nine and walked three as he permitted just three Black Knight base runners to reach scoring position.
Ercolano, who finished the day with six hits (6-8), went 2-for-3 with one run scored to pace the Mountain Hawks’ offense in the first game.
Army relievers Tyler Anderegg (1.0 IP), Andy Seaman (2.0 IP) and Austin Grimes (1.0 IP) combined to toss four scoreless innings of out of the Black Knights’ bullpen.
“I’m proud of the way our guys bounced back in the second game today,”said Army head coach Joe Sottolano. “Joe Matteo pitched a very good ball game in the opener. He handcuffed our batters the whole game. But we came back out in the second game and scored three runs in the first inning. We swung the bats really well from the first inning on and hit a lot of balls hard. We took a very good approach at the plate.
“Equally impressive as our offense in second game was our defense. We’re playing with a lot of confidence defensively and are fun to watch play.”
Army and Lehigh will square off in another Patriot League doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Doubleday Field. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m.
The Army Sports Network will broadcast both of Sunday’s contests in the Hudson Valley on WBNR (1260-AM), WLNA (1420-AM) and WGQ (920-AM). The game calls will be available on Army’s official Web site at www.goARMYsports.com through Knight Vision, the Black Knights’ subscription-based multi-media package. A live video stream of the twinbill will be available on Knight Vision, while the Army Athletic Communications staff will provide a live blog as well. Live statistics for all Army home games are also available at www.goARMYsports.com.
Game 1: Navy 4 Bucknell 0
Game 2: Navy 16 Bucknell 6
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Navy starting pitcher Mitch Harris (Sr./Mt. Holly, N.C.) fired a complete shutout in the opener and the offense exploded for 21 hits in the nightcap as the Midshipmen swept Bucknell, 4-0 and 16-6, in baseball action on a summer-like Saturday afternoon at Depew Field.
With the wins, Navy improved to 23-18 overall and 8-6 in the Patriot League, while Bucknell dropped back to .500 at 18-18-2 on the year and 7-7 in league play.
“We were able to get our confidence back at the plate today,” stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. “Our offense was able to get into the other team’s middle relief – something that we haven’t done over the past-two weeks.”
Harris threw 90 pitches to record his fourth career shutout, the second-best mark in school history, and his 11th career complete game. The Navy right-hander scattered six hits and walked none, while striking out three to improve to 2-1 and lower his ERA to 1.27 on the year.
“Mitch really pitched out there today against a good-hitting Bucknell team,” said Kostacopoulos. “He hit his spots and had a good game plan. His shutout was a brilliant performance.”
Harris got into some trouble in the second and third innings, but was able to work his way out of both jams unscathed. In the second, back-to-back singles with a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out. Harris battled back with a strikeout and a flyout to right to end the threat.
One frame later, Harris hit a batter with two outs, threw a wild pitch and allowed an infield single to put runners on the corners. He was able to come back and end the inning with a strikeout to keep the game scoreless.
Navy’s offense provided all the run support Harris would need on Saturday in the fifth inning. Jonathan Berkowitz (So./Parkland, Fla.) led off with a single through the right side and reached second on a sacrifice attempt in which the pitcher over-threw the shortstop covering. Mike Guadagnini (Fr./Virginia Beach, Va.) failed to get the sacrifice bunt down on the first two pitches, but came through with a two-run double to the gap in left-center. Guadagnini would eventually cross home plate on a fielder’s choice.
The Midshipmen tacked on an insurance run in the sixth. Nick Driscoll (Fr./Riverview, Fla.) singled up the middle with two outs and stole second, before Guadagnini delivered a run-scoring single to left.
Guadaganini led the offense with a 3-for-3 effort at the plate with a double, three RBIs and a run scored. Renaldo Hollins (Sr./Virginia Beach, Va.) went 2-for-4 at the leadoff position and Driscoll scored twice in going 1-for-3 in the batter’s box. Navy out-hit Bucknell in the opener, 8-6.
In the back end of Saturday’s doubleheader, Navy pounded out three doubles and three home runs in producing its highest run total in a Patriot League regular season game since a 17-2 win at Holy Cross on April 21, 2001.
Michael Speciale (So./Pearland, Texas) tied a school record with five runs scored, as he reached base safely in all-six plate appearances. He went 4-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs.
Guadagnini carried his momentum from the day’s first game into the second, as he went 3-for-5 with a double, home run and three RBIs. Jeff Bland (Fr./Basking Ridge, N.J.) also went deep for the Mids and finished the game 3-for-6 with four RBIs. Bolt, Harris and Driscoll each collected three hits, while Hollins went 2-for-7 with his program-record 60th career stolen base.
Navy’s cleanup through ninth hitters combined to go 19-for-30 (.633) with 15 runs scored and 15 RBIs.
“Michael (Speciale) was the catalyst with his home run early in the game,” stated Kostacopoulos. “Everybody then jumped on and had a good team performance at the plate. It’s nice to not just talk about one guy getting the job done. The bottom half of the order really had a solid day at the plate.”
The two teams played a scoreless first before Navy rattled off nine unanswered runs, three in each the second, third and fourth innings. Harris and Driscoll hit back-to-back RBI doubles in the second before Speciale blasted his team-best eighth home run of the season, a two-run shot, in the third. In the fourth, Harris delivered a two-run single, followed a Driscoll run-scoring base knock.
Navy starter Oliver Drake (So./Gardner, Mass.) faced only one batter over the minimum during the first-three innings before getting into trouble in the fourth and the fifth, as Bucknell pulled within three at 9-6. However, that would be as close as it would get, as Navy reliever Drew Carlson (So./Boca Raton, Fla.) came in and shut out the hosts over the final-five innings of play. Carlson scattered four hits and no walks with two strikeouts to improve his record to 3-0 and drop his miniscule ERA down to 0.64.
“Drew came in and settled the game down for us when we were getting in a vulnerable position – that being they were starting to put on some good swings and score some runs,” said Kostacopoulos. “Drew’s performance was outstanding. He gave us more innings to extend our lead. When looking at the final score, it doesn’t indicate the type of game that was played today.”
While Carlson held the Bison in check, Navy extended its cushion with two runs in the sixth, one in the eighth and four in the ninth. Bland delivered a two-run single in the sixth before belting a solo shot over the fence down the left-field line in the eighth. One frame later, Guadagnini capped the scoring with a towering three-run home run to right-center.
Navy will close out its four-game series at Bucknell tomorrow with a 12 noon twinbill.
