Around the Bases: Falcons with an impressive weekend while Navy finds first wins of the season.

A quick recap of the last week on the diamond and a preview of what’s ahead. This may be a shock to some, but Mountain West Conference play is already getting under way this weekend!

Air Force (5-3)

The Falcons easily had the most impressive weekend of the service academy trio after not only winning a neutral site series against Navy but concluding the weekend with a road win over #14 East Carolina. Air Force overcame three errors to earn a 6-4 win over Navy in game two of the series - a game that featured three home runs by the Falcons - and followed that victory with an impressive pitching performance by Ethan Nichols. Nichols threw for ten strikeouts in six innings of work against the Midshipmen to earn the 7-2 win in the rubber match.

But, defeating a service academy rival wasn’t a good enough weekend for the Falcons, no, they took it one step further. After the conclusion of the Freedom Classic, Air Force took the short trip to Greenville to upset the 14th ranked Pirate of East Carolina. Senior Gabe Martinez played hero with a solo shot in the top of the ninth inning to take the 3-2 lead which proved to be good enough for Air Force to pick up its 5th win of the season.

Up Next: The Falcons open Mountain West Conference play this weekend when they host San Diego State (5-3) in a three-game series.

Stat Leaders:

Colby Brown - .360; nine hits, four runs

Nic Ready - .323; 10 hits, six RBIs

Jake Gilbret - 0.00 ERA; 7.1 IP, eight strikeouts

Army (3-2)

The Black Knights brought their bats to Farmville, VA last week by sweeping the Lancers of Longwood. While the weekend was cut short due to weather, Army was able to compile two big wins in a Thursday double header by the scores of 12-2 and 10-3. The Black Knights benefited from seven players who contributed two or more hits on the day to include four-hit performances by Andre Walden and Drake Titus. Army’s pitching staff was led by Cam Opp who contributed a team-high seven strikeouts. Tyler Giovinco tallied his second win of the year while teammate Sam Messina picked up his first win of the young season.

Up Next: Army will travel to the Tar-heel State to take on four different teams as part of the Army Baseball Classic. The Black Knights will have their second double header of the year when they battle with Saint Joseph’s and Farleigh Dickinson on Friday. West Point will play Darmouth on Saturday before concluding the week on Sunday against their toughest competition of the weekend against the Tulane Green Wave.

Stat Leaders:

Jacob Hurtubise - .563; nine hits, 11 runs

Anthony Giachin - .400; five doubles, 14 RBIs

Tyler Giovinco - 2.25 ERA; 2-0

Navy (2-5)

The Midshipmen managed to go .500 since our last update thanks to a 5-3 victory over Coppin State on Wednesday night. Prior to that victory over over the Eagles, the Midshipmen earned one win over Air Force due to an impressive showing on the mound by Noah Song in game one. The Senior pitcher earned Patriot League Pitcher of the Week honors in the victory that included 14 strikeouts.The pitching staff continued to impress in the early season as they combined to give up only three hits in the win over Coppin State. Offensively, the Midshipmen were led by a group effort that included hits from nine different players.

Up Next: Navy will host a pair of contests against Central Connecticut State (Fri, Sun) this weekend with a game against UMass (Sar) sandwiched in between. After the weekend the Mids have two weekday match-ups that include a road game at Delaware State before hosting UMBC.

Stat Leaders:

Christian Hodge - .333; three hits

Noah Song - 0.00 ERA; 5.2 IP

Charlie Connolly - 1.29 ERA; 7.0 IP