April 7, 2009

Box Score

BALTIMORE - The Navy baseball team exploded for a seven-run first inning and cruised to a 10-1 win over UMBC on a blustery Tuesday night at the Baseball Factory Field at UMBC. The Midshipmen improved to 12-17-1 on the year, while the Retrievers fell to 4-19.

Navy's offense wasted no time in giving starter JD Melton (Jr./Myrtle Beach, S.C.) an early cushion, as 11 batters stepped to the plate in the first. Michael Speciale (Jr./Pearland, Texas) blasted a three-run shot with one out, later followed in the inning by a two-run double by Alex Azor (Fr./Miami, Fla.). Still in the first, Matthew Curley (Jr./Boston, Mass.) produced a RBI-single and Mike Guadagnini (So./Virginia Beach, Va.) ripped a run-scoring double to left-center to make the score 7-0.

"You always feel better when you are playing with a lead. It certainly allows you to do a few more things," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "What was big was after Michael (Speciale) hit the three-run homer, we picked it up after that and scored four more runs. It kind of felt like we had two innings wrapped into one. Any time you score seven times in the first, it's going to help."

Curley extended the lead to 8-0 in the third with a RBI-double to left. UMBC got onto the board in the bottom of the third, but the Mids responded with a run in the fourth and fifth. Steven Soares (Jr./Coral Springs, Fla.) belted his team-best fifth long ball of the season, a one-out solo shot to left in the fourth. One frame later, Guadagnini drove home a run with a single to right-center that extended the lead to nine at 10-1.

Melton earned the win in his first-career start while working on a limited pitch count on Tuesday night. He threw 47 pitches over 2.2 innings with one run on four hits. The Navy junior did not walk a batter and struck out two to improve his record to 1-1 on the year.

Navy's bullpen of Jeff Murdza (Jr./Hamilton, N.J.), Alec Thomas (Jr./Kernersville, N.C.) and Drew Carlson (Jr./Boca Raton, Fla.) combined to hold UMBC scoreless over the final-6.1 innings of the game. Murdza fired 3.1 innings with no walks and five strikeouts, followed by a two-strikeout effort from Thomas for two frames and an inning of scoreless work from Carlson.

"All of our pitchers did a good job of working the strike zone," said Kostacopoulos. "To walk only one and strike out nine, that's a pretty good performance. With the lead and being able to pitch like that, more times than not, it will result in a good ending."

Azor and Curley led the 14-hit Navy attack with three hits apiece. Azor went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, two runs scored and two RBIs. Curley finished 3-for-5 at the dish with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Guadagnini and Soares each had a pair of hits in the contest. Every Navy starter reached base at least once in the game, eight of which recorded a base knock.

"The bottom of the order, Alex (Azor) and Matthew (Curley), really performed with six hits and reached base seven times," stated Kostacopoulos. "The certainly got it going for us and did a really good job."

The Midshipmen (12-17-1, 5-3 Patriot League) will head up to West Point this weekend to take on Patriot League and service academy rival Army (13-13, 3-5 Patriot League). The two teams will battle in a 12 noon doubleheader on Saturday before a 1 p.m. twinbill on Sunday.

DIAMOND NOTES
- With Tuesday night's win, Navy has won six of its last-10 games ... the Midshipmen are now 3-2 on this current and season-long 10-game road swing.
- Tuesday's game was Navy's first regular season game played under the lights ... the Midshipmen are slated to play a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Patriot League foe Holy Cross on April 25.
- Navy's offense exploded for seven runs in the first inning ... it was the most runs scored by the Midshipmen in one inning since they plated eight runners in the fifth-inning of a 15-3 win over Iona on March 8 in Annapolis.
- The Midshipmen belted two home runs on Tuesday night to increase their season total to 19 ... it was Navy's fourth multi-home run showing this season.
- Michael Speciale belted his 14th-career home run in the first inning on Tuesday ... he moved into a tie for sixth place on the career home runs list with Luke Braham (1997-00) and Ron Kinn (1985-88) ... it was also Speciale's second three-run, first-inning home run in three days, as he went deep with two guys in the first during the opener at Lehigh on Sunday.
- JD Melton made his first-career start after 72 relief appearances on Tuesday night ... working on a limited pitch count, he lasted 2.2 innings and did not allow a walk ... it was his longest outing since he went 3.0 innings at Lafayette on March 30, 2008.
- Jeff Murdza surpassed his career-long in innings pitched with 3.1 on Tuesday night ... he also struck out a career-best five batters ... in his last appearance, a start against Maryland last Tuesday, he went 3.0 innings with three strikeouts.
- Matthew Curley tied his career high in hits with three against UMBC ... he also had three base knocks against Air Force in the Service Academy Spring Classic on Feb. 23, 2008.
- Alex Azor recorded his first-career three-hit performance on Tuesday night ... it was his fourth-career multi-hit game.
- Navy's defense recorded only one error in the blustery conditions on Tuesday evening ... the Midshipmen have not made more than one fielding miscue in each of their last-10 games - five of which were error-free performances.
- Tuesday's game was played with snow flurries falling sporadically from the fifth inning on.