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Feb. 23, 2008

Box Score

MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Navy third baseman Kendall Bolt (So./Stockton, Calif.) belted a home run, a double and scored three runs to the lead Midshipmen to a convincing 16-5 victory over Air Force in baseball action at the Service Academy Spring Classic at USA Stadium on Saturday.

The Midshipmen, who defeated Air Force yesterday in the season opener, improved to 2-0 on the young campaign. Navy has come away victorious in each of the last-six contests against the Falcons, dating back to the 2005 season.

Navy totaled 20 base hits on the afternoon, eight of which were of the extra-base variety. The Midshipmen also drew five walks, was hit by a pitch once and took advantage of four Air Force errors. Each of Navy's starters scored at least once and seven batters recorded a multi-hit effort.

"We had a pretty good all-around, balanced offensive performance as a team today," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos, who improved to 7-1 in Service Academy Spring Classic affairs. "Kendall had a good day. Jonathan (Wright) did a solid job at leadoff and Matthew (Curley) came up with hits at key moments."

Leadoff hitter Jonathan Wright (Fr./Arden, N.C.) went 4-for-5 with a walk, two RBIs and run scored, while Matthew Curley (So./Boston, Mass.) and Mike Hoosier (So./Pomona, N.Y.) each recorded three hits and Michael Speciale (So./Pearland, Texas) crossed home plate four times in a 2-for-3 effort with a pair of walks.

Air Force jumped out to a 1-0 lead after one inning, but Navy's offense came alive in scoring during each of the next-seven innings.

"It's very important in college baseball to continue chipping away at all times," said Kostacopoulos. "You cannot sit on a lead at any point, which was great to see out of our team today - as we kept adding to the lead."

Navy took the lead for good with a three-run second inning, highlighted by Hoosier's RBI-double with two outs and would later score on an Air Force throwing error. In the third, the Midshipmen sent 10 batters to the plate and recorded five-consecutive base hits in plating four runs in the stanza.

After an Air Force run in the third, Bolt immediately responded with a leadoff solo blast in the fourth and Renaldo Hollins (Sr./Virginia Beach, Va.) lifted a sacrifice fly in the fifth to push the Navy lead to 9-2.

Navy continued to build its cushion, plating two runs in the sixth, four in the seventh and one in the eight. Catcher Steven Soares (So./Coral Springs, Fla.) and Hoosier each smacked a RBI-double in the sixth. One inning later, both Bolt and Curley delivered run-scoring doubles. Team captain Thomas Hamilton (Sr./Houston, Texas) capped the offensive production on the day with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Right-hander Mark McCoy (Sr./Parkland, Fla.) picked up the win on Saturday, as he scattered seven hits and two runs over five innings with two walks and six strikeouts. Reliever Chris Murray (So./Navarre, Fla.) fired three innings of perfect relief with three strikeouts to earn the unconventional save, the first of his career.

"Mark had some command issues today, but battled through and gave us five complete innings," stated Kostacopoulos. "Chris threw extremely well today, which is nice to see early in the year."

Navy's defense also had a solid showing in its second game of the year, as it did not commit an error in 37 chances and turned a double play in the fifth inning.

The Midshipmen will aim for their second Service Academy Spring Classic title in three years when they take on Arkansas State tomorrow at 2 p.m. EST (1 p.m. EST). Tomorrow's expected matchup will feature Navy southpaw Yale Eckert (So./La Selva Beach, Calif.) and Arkansas State right-hander Jacob Maggard.