Around the Bases: Army snaps Navy win streak while Air Force loses fifth consecutive game

Navy (17-9, 6-2)

The Midshipmen managed to put together an impressive nine game win streak in mid-March but couldn’t make it ten games after splitting with rival West Point (12-11, 2-2) in its first Patriot League road series of the year on Sunday. Noah Song (4-0) earned his fourth win of the year in game one of the doubleheader where he tallied an impressive 13 strikeouts. Evan Lowery led both teams in hits with three and also knocked in a run in the 5-2 win over the Black Knights. Navy couldn’t put it together in game two and Jared Leins (1-1) lost his first game of the year giving up four runs in six innings.

Navy continued conference play on Monday with a visit to Holy Cross that also included a split series. Liam Lowery went 2 for 4 with four RBIs thanks to a pair of doubles in the 6-1 win over the Crusaders in game one. The Mids were shut out in game two and fell to Holy Cross (5-20. 2-2) 4-0.

Up Next: Navy hits the road again this week. Up first is a midweek game on Wednesday at Georgetown (6-18) followed by a three-game series at Lafayette (6-15,3-1).

Stat Leaders:

Zach Stevens - .373; .569 slugging

Liam Lowery - .322; 29 hits, 20 RBIs

Noah Song - 1.59 ERA; 78 Ks, 4-0

Army (12-11, 2-2)

The Black Knights opened Patriot League play this past weekend serving as hosts for Bucknell (6-18, 2-6) and Navy.

Army West Point used a number of extra base hits to power past Bucknell in game one with an 11-1 victory over the Bison. Andre Walden set the tone in the first inning with a three-run shot to center field which was more than enough runs needed to account for Tyler Giovinco’s (4-1) performance on the mound. The Black Knights couldn’t get their bats going in game two of the doubleheader as the team was held to just two hits in the 2-0 loss.

Sunday afternoon featured another doubleheader for West Point, this time against the Navy Midshipmen. Another limited offensive production game stifled the Black Knights in game one as Army only tallied two hits in the 5-2 loss to the Mids. The Black Knights finished the weekend on a high-note, however, as Army once again found their bats and earned five runs on nine hits to defeat the Midshipmen 5-2 to close out the weekend. Sam Messina (4-2) earned the win giving up just one earned run in seven innings of work.

Up Next: Army will stay in state when they travel to take on Siena (4-15) on Wednesday before traveling to Lewisburg, PA to finish their season series with Bucknell.

Stat Leaders:

Trey Martin - .343; 23 hits, 14 RBIs

Anthony Giachin - .314; 27 hits, 23 RBIs

Tyler Giovinco - 4-1, 2.31 ERA, 32 Ks

Air Force (9-10, 2-2)

While the weather finally cooperated and allowed Air Force to play this week, the Falcons were unable to find a win going a combined 0-5 in games against Nebraska (11-7) and Dallas Baptist (18-5).

In Lincoln, the Falcons dropped game one to the Cornhuskers 7-6 in a loss that featured a man left in scoring position in the top of the ninth. Joe Martinez III picked up his first loss of the season in the contest. While Nic Ready delivered his second home run of the year in game two, it wasn’t enough to stop the high-powered Nebraska offense as the Falcons lost 12-3.

The Falcons returned home for the weekend and their series against DBU was, uh, interesting to say the least. After losing 4-3 in 12 innings on Friday night Air Force responded with a 5-2 lead going into the ninth inning on Saturday. From there, the wheels certainly fell off (yes, I know, never end a sentence in a preposition). A costly throwing error eventually led to a two-out grand slam that propelled the Patriots to a 6-5 come-from-behind win over the Falcons. Air Force never fully recovered from the ninth inning as they gave up 28 hits and 30 runs in the final game of the series in a 30-7 loss. Yes, thirty.

Up Next: The Falcons travel to Stockton, CA to battle Pacific (12-11) in a two-game midweek series before finishing the weekend in Reno to take on the Nevada Wolfpack (12-10, 4-5).

Stat Leaders:

Ashton Easley - .319; 23 hits, 16 runs

Nic Ready - .325; 25 hits, 14 RBIs

Matt Hargreaves - 0.83 ERA; 21.2 IP, 20 Ks