April 4, 2007

CENTERVILLE, Mass. - The accolades continue to roll in for Navy baseball junior pitcher/outfielder Mitch Harris (Mt. Holly, N.C.) following his performance at the plate and on the mound last weekend, as he has been named the ECAC Player of the Week on Wednesday. One day earlier, he was honored as the Patriot League Player of the Week and selected to the College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll.

Harris played a key role in Navy's four-game sweep of Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., last weekend, the team's first four-game road sweep of a Patriot League foe in 12 years.

At the plate, the product of Mt. Holly, N.C., batted .444 (8-for-18) with eight runs scored, two doubles, three home runs, 10 RBIs and a slugging percentage of 1.056. He registered at least one extra-base hit, one run and one RBI during each of the four games last weekend.

He belted home runs in three-consecutive games to start the series, becoming only the second player in school history (Mark Zematis at East Carolina on March 4-5, 2000, being the other) to achieve the feat and the first to do so against Patriot League opposition. The three four-baggers Harris smacked this past weekend pushed his season total to seven, tying him for third place on the program's single-season home run list.

In the series opener, Harris pounded a three-run home run over the left-center fence to build on Navy's one-run lead in the sixth inning. During the nightcap of last Saturday's doubleheader, he went the opposite way with a 400-foot shot over the right-center fence, just missing the scoreboard. One game later on Sunday, he gave the Mids a 1-0 lead in the first with his second opposite field shot, nearly hit to the same spot as his previous round-tripper.

For the year as a hitter, Harris owns a .327 (33-for-101) batting average with 24 runs scored, four doubles, two triples, seven home runs, 33 RBIs, 15 walks and a .614 slugging percentage.

On the mound, Harris won the opening game of the series, striking out eight in 6.1 innings to improve to 6-2 on the year. He has struck out more batters than innings pitched this season and has recorded the feat in 14 of his last 16 starts, dating back to the 2006 season.

The eight strikeouts pushed Harris' career total to 202, making him only the fifth pitcher in school history to reach 200 career strikeouts and only the second Navy pitcher to reach that mark before his senior year (Chuck Davis in 1959-60 was the other).

Following his start on the hill, the Navy right-hander owns a 2.17 ERA in 49.2 innings of work. He has struck out 67 batters this season, averaging 12.14 strikeouts per nine innings. Meanwhile, he has allowed only 30 hits, limiting the opposition to a .169 batting average.

The Midshipmen (22-9, 4-0 in the Patriot League) will host Lafayette (12-10, 4-0 in the Patriot League) in a showdown of the league's two undefeated teams this weekend at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium in Annapolis. Live stats will be available for each of the four games this upcoming weekend via GameTracker through Navy's website, www.navysports.com (.)