The Midshipmen host UMBC on Friday and will then start a three-game set with Central Connecticut State on Saturday. UMBC enters Friday's game at 0-1, while Saturday's doubleheader will be CCSU's first action of the season.
The Retrievers fell to Delaware, 10-5, in their season opener on Tuesday. UMBC returns eight members of its starting lineup from the 2010 squad that went 9-39 overall and 4-20 in America East play. Junior first baseman Max Himmelstein hit .316 and drove in 27 runs last season. Junior Brian Klukowicz led the Retrievers in home runs with four last season, and ranked second on the team with a .286 batting average.
CCSU went 33-23 and won the Northeast Conference title last season. The Blue Devils were picked to repeat as league champions this season as they return senior All-America candidate Pat Epps, who hit .418 and set school-records with 18 home runs and 73 RBIs, and junior third baseman Mitch Wells, who hit .369 with 10 home runs and 56 RBIs.
After hitting just .226 as a team through its first four games, the Navy offense responded as it has posted a team batting average of .357 in its last four contests. Against Air Force last weekend, the Midshipmen pounded out 42 hits, including 20 hits in the 13-3 win on Sunday. Navy nearly doubled its number of hits over the last four outings as it has 56, compared to the 30 it posted in the first four games.
One of the reasons for the Mids' turnaround at the plate over the last four games has been the play of senior second baseman Nick Driscoll. After going hitless in the first three games of the season, Driscoll responded by getting multiple hits in each of the last five games. He is 12-for-24, with two home runs and eight runs scored since the Feb. 23 game at Maryland. The Riverview, Fla., native is currently hitting .364 and has homered in two of the last three games.
Through just eight games, senior captainJeff Blandhas three home runs and has now moved into the top 10 on Navy's all-time home run list as he is currently tied for ninth place with with Edward Abner (1975-77). Bland started the season with two home runs in the series at Presbyterian and then added another in the Mids' 13-3 win over Air Force last weekend.
With his two home runs against Presbyterian, he became the first Midshipman to homer in consecutive games since April 2009 when Michale Speciale and Steve Soares both accomplished the feat.
Sophomore infielderGreg Dupellenters Friday's contest with a team-high six-game hitting streak. Dupell has started six games this season and his .417 batting average leads the team. He had a career-high four hits against Air Force, which is also a team single-game high.
The Feb. 27th win over Air Force marked the seventh time the Mids put up 20 or more hits in a game since 2008 and it was the first time since they had 26 vs. Lafayette on May 2, 2010. Since 2008, the Mids have posted 20 or more hits on three occasions against Air Force.
Head coachPaul Kostacopoulosbecame the fifth coach in Navy history to hit the 150-win mark when the Mids defeated Air Force, 6-4, on Feb .26. This season marks his sixth at the helm of the Navy baseball program and his 22nd year as a head coach.
Last season, Kostacopoulos led the Mids to 30 wins, marking the fourth time in the last five seasons Navy won at least 30 games. Prior to his arrival in 2006, the Mids won at least 30 games in just three of their previous 109 seasons.
After graduating 10 seniors last spring, the Mids return with a much younger squad in 2011 as 25 of team's 35 players are either freshmen or sophomores.
Navy's Opening Day lineup in 2011 included two seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and one freshman that, entering the season, had collectively started a total of 335 games with 457 total combined appearances. By comparison, Navy's lineup on Opening Day 2010 featured far more experience with four seniors, three juniors and two sophomores that had a combined 841 appearances and (+384 games) 733 games started (+398 games).
This season's Navy roster includes the most freshmen, and highest total of underclassmen, since the NCAA instituted a 35-player roster limit in 2009.
Navy played its first seven games of the season on the road which was the longest the Midshipmen have gone without a home game to start the season since 2005 when they played their first 13 games on the road.
The Patriot League Preseason Poll, as voted on by the conference's head coaches and sports information contacts, selected Navy to finish fifth. The league's defending champion, Bucknell, was picked to finish second as Army, which received six first-place votes, was selected to win the conference. Holy Cross was picked third and Lehigh was selected fourth.
The trio of Navy relievers -Joel Rinehart,Wes Olsonand Dwayne Gammage - has proven to be quite effective out of the bullpen so far this season. The three have allowed just four runs, collectively, in a combined 18.1 innings in 10 total appearances.
Rinehart, who has allowed just one run in 8.1 innings, limited Air Force to just three hits in four complete innings of relief on Sunday to earn his first win of the season.
Gammage and Rinehart each have six strikeouts this season, which is the most out of all relievers on the team.
Senior starting pitcherSam Longstruck out a season-high seven batters in Navy's 6-4 win over Air Force on Feb. 26. Long was solid on the mound as he allowed just two runs in five complete innings.
CollegeBaseballInsider.com Highlights Azor, Nelson
In CollegeBaseballInsider.com's 2011 Patriot League season preview that compiled answers from coaches around the conference, sophomore pitcher Ben Nelson and junior outfielderAlex Azorboth received praise. Azor was named the "Toughest Hitter to Strike Out," and the "Most Underrated Hitter." He was also selected as one of the "Three-Best Pure Hitters."
Navy will close its six-game home stand on Tuesday, March 8 with a rematch against Coppin State at 2 p.m., and will travel to Towson on Wednesday, March 9 for 2:30 p.m. game.
The Mids will hit the road next weekend for four games in four days at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational, beginning with Central Michigan on March 13.
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