Around the Bases: Navy Baseball Continuing to Roll

BLUF: The tides appear to be shifting in Annapolis as Navy has won 12 of its last 13 games, while weather is continuing to wreck havoc on Air Force’s schedule. Army opens up Patriot League play on Saturday and gets to host the red-hot Midshipmen on Sunday.

Navy (14-7)

Believe it or not, there was a time where Navy baseball was 2-6. In those eight games the Midshipmen averaged just over two runs per game. Since that slow start Navy has gone 12-1 and are currently riding a seven game winning streak. Navy has averaged nearly nine runs per game in their last 13 games.

So who gets credit for the offensive charge as of late? Well, the Midshipmen have four players batting over .300 with at least 35 plate appearances. Christian Hodge leads the team in RBIs (17) and hits (25) and is third in runs (15).

Navy completed a four-game sweep over Bucknell to start Patriot League action over the weekend. Game two featured the highest scoring game of the year for the Mids with a 15-2 win over the Bison. Zach Biggers led Navy in the contest with three hits and four RBIs. Noah Song picked up his third win of the year in the first game of the series which featured 13 strikeouts in just seven innings.

Up Next: A midweek game on Wednesday as Navy hosts Mount St. Mary’s (6-8) before hitting the road to continue Patriot League play. The Midshipmen will be in Worcester, MA on Saturday in a double-header against Holy Cross (2-18) and will take on the Army West Point Black Knights (9-8) on Sunday.

Stat Leaders:

Christian Hodge - .321; 25 hits, 17 RBIs, 2 HRs

Michael Coritz - .350; 21 hits, 16 runs

Noah Song (3-0) - 1.38 ERA, 32.2 IP, 65 Ks

Air Force (9-5)

I am starting to think that playing baseball in March in Colorado may not be the best idea. Yet again, winter weather hampered Mountain West action for the Falcons after leadership was forced to postpone the entire three-game home-stand against Fresno State (and rightfully so, I mean, did you see some of that snow and wind late last week?).

Air Force was able to schedule a second game of the season with Northern Colorado at the last minute and after beating the Bears 9-6 in their first meeting of the season last week, the Falcons’ held the Bears scoreless in a 6-0 victory on Sunday. Five pitchers contributed to the shutout that included giving up just three hits. Senior Tyler Mortenson (1-2) picked up the win.

With the win, Mike Kazlausky’s squad is currently riding a three game win streak which is good enough for a 9-5 overall record and a 3-2 MWC record - good enough for the second best record in conference play.

Up Next: A challenging week ahead for USAFA. The Falcons will travel to Lincoln, NE on Tuesday and Wednesday to take on a battle-tested Nebraska (6-7) team. Eight of the Cornhusker games this season were against ranked competition (3-5). The Falcons will then return to Colorado Springs and host a three-game series against Dallas Baptist (14-5).

Stat Leaders:

Ashton Easley - .358; 19 hits, 13 runs

Nic Ready - .352; 19 its, 10 RBIs

Matt Hargreaves (1-0) - 1.20 ERA; 15.0 IP, 15 strikeouts

Army (9-8)

After being swept in a three-game road trip at Houston, the Black Knights returned to their winning ways winning four of their five games last week. Army averaged eight runs in their four victories which included a pair of wins over Stephen F. Austin (SFA) and Ohio.

Anthony Giachin led Army in the victories over SFA with a .455 batting average which included five hits and four runs. Relief pitchers picked up both wins as the Black Knights needed twelve innings before Cam Opp (2-0) picked up the 5-4 win in game one and Harry Flannery pitched the last four innings of the 8-5 win in game two.

Army followed their Texas trip by traveling to Ohio where the Black Knights won the series over the Bobcats 2-1. The bats were alive and well in the first two games of the series, which included an 11-2 win in game two where Andre Walden belted a three-run home run in the third inning. The Black Knights were held scoreless in a 1-0 loss to close out the series.

Up Next: An interesting week ahead for West Point as the Black Knights will face four different opponents in six days all at home. Army will host Stony Brook (7-7) on Tuesday and Hofstra (3-11) on Wednesday before opening up Patriot League play Saturday against Bucknell (4-14) and Sunday (14-7) against arch-rival Navy. Both Patriot League match-ups are slated as double headers.

Stat Leaders:

Trey Martin - .377; 20 hits, 11 RBIs

Anthony Giachin - .309; 21 its, 18 runs, 19 RBIs

Cam Opp (2-0) - 0.00 ERA, 13.2 IP, 1 save