April 14, 2008
Center Valley, Pa. - Series wins by Army and Bucknell have put only one game of separation between the top five teams in the Patriot League Baseball standings after the weekend's matchups. Bucknell and Holy Cross share first place at 7-5 after the Bison took three of four games at home against the Crusaders. Army surged from fifth place to within a half game of first by winning three games at Navy, with the winner of Monday's make-up contest between the schools joining the tie in first place. Lafayette is just a game off the pace at 6-6 after splitting its four-game series with Lehigh.
Patriot League Baseball Release - 4.14.08 
Player of the Week (April 7-April 13)
Chris Simmons, Army Sr., C, Prairieview, La.
Simmons led Army to a perfect 5-0 record, including wins in the first three games of a series at rival Navy, by hitting .533 with one home run, five runs scored and six RBI while playing in four of the victories. He batted .636 (7-for-11) in the games against the Midshipmen, recording a pair of three-hit performances and all of his RBI for the week. Simmons posted a 1.000 slugging percentage in the series as he added a triple with his home run, which came in the first contest of the weekend that Army won, 14-3. He notched a .933 slugging percentage for the week, and has hit safely in seven consecutive games. Simmons receives his first Player of the Week honor.
Pitcher of the Week (April 7-April 13)
Mathew Wilson, Bucknell Sr., P, Toronto, Ontario
Wilson turned in a masterful performance in his first outing since March 15, tying a Bucknell record with his fourth career shutout and setting a personal high with 11 strikeouts for a seven-inning complete game in a 3-0 win over Holy Cross. Wilson scattered four hits, all singles, and walked one batter. He allowed just two hits after the first inning, and the first six outs were recorded by strikeout. The victory helped Bucknell take three of four games in the series and pull into a first-place tie with the Crusaders at 7-5 in League play. Wilson takes home his first-career Pitcher of the Week nod.
Rookie of the Week (April 7-April 13)
Kevin McKague, Army Fr., 1B, Fayetteville, N.C.
McKague earns Rookie of the Week honors for the first time after hitting .381 with eight runs scored and five RBI in a 5-0 week for the Black Knights. He came up huge as Army took the first three games of its series with Navy, posting a .385 batting average with five runs and two RBI. McKague notched the game-winning RBI in extra innings of Army's 2-1 win in the Star Game against the Mids on Sunday. He also stepped on the mound and registered his first career save by striking out all four batters he faced in Army's 9-6 win over Manhattan on Wednesday.
Patriot League Notebook
Going the Distance
Every team received at least one stellar complete-game pitching outing in a Patriot League weekend contest. Bucknell's Mathew Wilson set a career-high with 11 strikeouts in a seven-inning complete game shutout against Holy Cross. Army's Cole White and Navy's Mitch Harris engaged in an extra-inning pitcher's duel, with White getting the better of it by allowing one run on one hit in eight innings to Harris' two runs on three hits in 7.2 innings of a 2-1 Army win in eight. Holy Cross and Lafayette both had nine-inning complete-game shuout efforts, with Bobby Holmes for Holy Cross and Jeremy Atkins for Lafayette. Lehigh's Joe Matteo allowed just one run in a seven-inning complete game, 5-1, win over Lafayette.
Close Calls
The teams are bunched in the standings, so it makes sense that the games have come down to the wire, too. Three contests were decided by one run over the weekend, with a pair of extra-inning matchups. There have already been 13 one-run games in the first 35 Patriot League contests, with seven of those going into extra frames.
What's Up Next
With close standings and only two weekends left, every series takes on great significance. It starts this weekend with a pair of matchups between the teams in the jumbled top five of the standings, with Lafayette going to Holy Cross and Navy visiting Bucknell. Army will host Lehigh in the remaining series. Lehigh, Holy Cross and Navy all play a pair of mid-week games, while Lafayette, Bucknell and Army each have one weekday contest.
Leopards Claim the Title
Lafayette defeated Lehigh, 5-4, in the final of the Liberty Bell Classic on Tuesday. The Leopards defeated the Mountain Hawks in the title game of the tournament at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia for the second year in a row.
Patriot League Presence on ECAC Weekly Awards
Three ECAC Player of the Week awards have been presented, and three Patriot League student-athletes have come home with the honor. Navy's Thomas Hamilton became the latest player to claim the award, following Army's Cole White and Bucknell's John Avanzino. All three were honored days after claiming the Patriot League Player of the Week award.
Patriot League Players Filling up Watch Lists
Navy's Mitch Harris, Army's Cole White and Bucknell's Mathew Wilson have all been named to the 2008 Roger Clemens Award Watch List. They are part of a group of 78 pitchers up for the award as college baseball's pitcher of the year. That same trio was also named to the Brooks Wallace Award Player of the Year Watch List before the season. Wilson and teammate Jason Buursma are two of the 30 candidates named to the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award watch list, while Holy Cross' Brendan Akashian is one of 36 catchers named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch list, which goes to the top catcher in the country.
2008 Patriot League Tournament
The 2008 Patriot League Baseball Tournament will take place on the weekends of May 10-11 and May 17-18, with the semifinals on the first weekend and the Championship on the second. The top four teams at the end of the regular season make the field, with each round featuring a three-game series played at the higher seed.
Team Notebooks
Army The Black Knights completed a perfect 5-0 week by winning three games at rival Navy over the weekend. The teams play a make up for the fourth contest of the set on Monday afternoon, with the winner joining Holy Cross and Bucknell in a tie for first place in the League. In the Star Game on Sunday, Cole White pitched an eight-inning complete game with one run on one hit in a 2-1 extra-inning victory. White allowed just a fifth-inning double while striking out six. Kevin McKague drove in the game-winning run with a single in the eighth. Army won the Star Game for the fifth consecutive season. Army has won seven in a row at Navy's home field and 17 of the last 20 against the Mids overall going into Monday's contest. The Black Knights have a six-game winning streak against Navy, and a current six-game overall winning streak. Army has 22 home runs for the year after recording 12 all of last season. After facing Navy on Monday, the Black Knights begin a nine-game homestand against Marist on Wednesday and followed by Patriot League series against Lehigh this weekend and Lafayette on April 26 and 27.
Bucknell The Bison pulled into a tie for first place with Holy Cross after taking three of four from the Crusaders at home over the weekend. The teams split the Saturday games, but Bucknell earned a sweep on Sunday as Mathew Wilson fired a complete-game shutout for a 3-0 victory in game one and Ben Yoder hit a walk-off single for a 7-6 triumph in game two. Yoder also homered earlier in the game. Jason Buursma moved his record to 5-1 with a victory in the first game of the series. Buursma leads the Patriot League in wins as well as batting average (.418) home runs (nine), and strikeouts (55). Bucknell has eclipsed last year's win total, and is one off its 2007 League victory mark of eight. Bucknell continues its nine-game homestand this week, with Penn-State Erie on Thursday and four games with Navy over the weekend.
Holy Cross The Crusaders lost three of four games at Bucknell over the weekend, but remain in a tie for first with the Bison and the winner of Monday's Army/Navy game. The lone win came from a great performance by Bobby Holmes, who scattered five hits and pitched a nine-inning complete-game shutout in an 8-0 triumph on Saturday. The Crusaders gave up two runs in the ninth and fell, 7-6, in the series finale on Sunday. Holy Cross has more wins (14) than all of last season, and is one off last year's League win total of eight. The Crusaders play a pair of mid-week games before hosting Lafayette in four games this weekend.
Lafayette The Leopards split a four-game series with Lehigh over the weekend, winning the second game on Saturday and Sunday. They also played the Mountain Hawks in a non-League contest in the Liberty Bell Classic final, and came out on top, 5-4, on Tuesday. Jeremy Atkins led the Leopards to a 5-0 win on Saturday by firing a nine-inning complete-game shutout with five strikeouts. He did not allow an extra base hit in his first-career shutout. The Leopards had season highs of 17 runs and 21 hits in a 17-11 victory in the series finale on Sunday. Daniel Bearce had four multi-hit games during the week, while Rob Froio had at least one hit in every contest and at least one run in each game against Lehigh. The Leopards play at Villanova on Wednesday before traveling to Holy Cross for a weekend series.
Lehigh The Mountain Hawks split a four-game series with Lafayette, taking the first game on both Saturday and Sunday. They also lost to the Leopards, 5-4, in the non-League Liberty Bell Classic final on Tuesday. Lehigh won the series opener on Saturday, 5-1, behind seven strong innings from Joe Matteo. Andy Russell delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the eighth for a 3-2, extra-inning win on Sunday. Joe Ercolano broke the Lehigh hits record on Saturday, and now stands with 210 hits. That total places seventh in Patriot League annals. The Mountain Hawks play a pair of mid-week home games, then travel to Army for a weekend Patriot League series.
Navy The Mids dropped the first three games of their home series against rival Army, with the finale set for Monday afternoon. Navy has dropped its last six contests overall. Mitch Harris allowed only three hits in 7.2 innings on Sunday, but was the hard-luck loser in the 2-1 extra-inning affair. Thomas Hamilton extended his hitting streak to 15 games before it came to an end in Sunday's first game against Army. Mike Guadagnini became the second Navy freshman in program history to belt two home runs in the same game during his freshman campaign. The Mids have a pair of mid-week games, then travel to Bucknell for a weekend series.
