March 3, 2009

Center Valley, Pa. - Bad weather caused problems for most Patriot League Baseball teams over the weekend, but everyone was still able to get at least one game in and Lehigh came away with a winning 3-2 mark for the week. Lafayette's Daniel Bierce earned Player of the Week honors for the second straight time, while Bucknell's Trey Frahler was named Pitcher of the Week and Lehigh's Corey Kent claimed the Rookie of the Week award.

Patriot League Baseball Release - 3.3.09

Player of the Week

Daniel Bierce, Lafayette Sr., SS, Virginia Beach, Va.

Bierce earns the Player of the Week honor for the second straight time after an outstanding performance in Lafayette's weekend series at James Madison. He went 10-for-14 with five runs scored, a home run and four RBI in the three games, while also stealing two bases. Bierce opened the series by going 4-for-6 with three RBI and two runs scored to help the Leopards past James Madison, 9-8, in 12 innings. Lafayette lost the series finale, 10-9, but Bierce had a perfect day at the plate going 5-for-5 with three runs scored and a home run. He also kept Lafayette from being no-hit with the lone base-knock in the middle game of the series. Bierce leads the Patriot League with a .654 batting average through Lafayette's first three games.

Pitcher of the Week

Trey Frahler, Bucknell So., P, Northfield, Ill.

Frahler had a solid effort against a good Virginia Tech team, going seven innings with just one earned run allowed in a 2-1 loss for the Bison. He gave up six hits and four walks while matching a career high with six strikeouts. The Hokies hit just .231 off of Frahler in the contest. Virginia Tech scored 10 runs in the other two games of the series.

Rookie of the Week

Corey Kent, Lehigh Fr., P, Wilson, Pa.

Kent had a hand in all three of Lehigh's victories last week, posting two wins and recording a save as the Mountain Hawks put up a 3-2 week. He had both a win and a save in a doubleheader sweep of Maryland Eastern-Shore. Kent pitched two scoreless innings to pick up the victory in an 8-7 triumph in 11 innings in game one, and struck out the only two hitters he faced to save the 6-3 victory in the second game. He appeared in both games as Lehigh was without seven players in the contest. Kent came out of the bullpen to pitch three innings and pick up the victory against George Washington in Lehigh's 10-9 triumph on Sunday.

Patriot League Notebook

Weather Plays Havoc With League Teams

Most Patriot League teams had to deal with inclement weather last week, but every team was able to get at least one game in. Lehigh played five games during the week, and posted the top mark for a League team with a 3-2 record. Army won its only contest at USC-Upstate, while Lafayette won one of three games at James Madison. Navy, Holy Cross and Bucknell were not as fortunate, as they were not able to come away with a win in three games. Navy did have a tie against Delaware State.

Go West, Go South Young Men

Monday's snowstorm has already affected three games in the middle of the week, with Bucknell and Lafayette called off against La Salle and Navy moving their game with UMBC to Thursday. However, there is hope for other squads in warmer climates. Lehigh begins its Spring trip to Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday, while Holy Cross has a brutal stretch of five games at Arizona and No. 5 Arizona State. Army returns to action at George Mason over the weekend, while Navy will host three games. Lafayette has a three-game set at Maryland-Eastern Shore, while Bucknell will look for its first win when its Florida trip begins on Sunday.

Army Takes First Place in Preseason Poll

Army has been selected as the favorite to claim the 2009 Patriot League Baseball title in a preseason poll of the League's head coaches and sports information directors. The Black Knights claim the top spot with 48 points and eight first-place votes after finishing first in the regular season last year with a 13-7 mark in League games. Navy followed in second place with 37 points and two first-place votes. Holy Cross claimed a first-place vote and came in third position with 30 points. Defending champion Bucknell and Lafayette shared fourth place in the poll with 24 points, with the Leopards also claiming a first-place vote. Lehigh rounds out the poll with 17 points. Head coaches and sports information directors were not allowed to vote for their own teams.

Players to Watch

Army's Clint Moore and Navy's Michael Speciale and JD Melton all have national eyes watching them at the beginning of the 2009 season. Moore and Speciale were named to the Brooks Wallace Player of the Year Award Watch List, while Melton is on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch list.

One Milestone Down, One To Go

Two Patriot League head coaches were nearing milestone wins going into the 2009 campaign, and one hit the mark in the second game of the year. Navy Head Coach Paul Kostacopoulos earned his 100th victory at the school with a 3-1 win over Pittsburgh on Feb. 22. He became the fourth Navy head coach with at least 100 wins at the Academy, and has 604 career victories. Bucknell is still winless on the season, leaving Head Coach Gene Depew two wins shy of 500 for his career in Lewisburg. Depew is in his 28th season with the Bison.

Two Former Patriot Leaguers Sign MLB Contracts

Navy's Mitch Harris was unable to play with the St. Louis Cardinals after he was drafted last season due to obligations with the Academy, but he inked a minor-league deal with the team on Saturday that puts Harris under contract when he completes his military service. Another 2008 graduate added his name to a Major League Baseball organization on Tuesday when Holy Cross' Brendan Akashian signed a minor-league contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Patriot League Tournament

For the second year in a row, the Patriot League Baseball Tournament will include four teams and be played over two weekends. The best-of-three semifinals will be at the site of the top two seeds on May 9 and 10, with the best-of-three Patriot League Championship at the site of the highest remaining seed on May 16-17.

Team Notebooks

Army The Black Knights only ended up playing one game of their series at South Carolina-Upstate, but came away with a 17-10 win on Friday. Kevin McKague went 4-for-6 with two runs scored and three RBI in the victory, while also stealing a base. He has driven in six runs in Army's four contests. Matt Fouch threw six innings on the mound to pick up the win. It was his second victory in as many starts this season, and sixth consecutive victory going back to last year. Freshman Zach Price was 2-for-2 with three runs scored and two RBI in the game as he made his debut as Army's leadoff hitter. Clint Moore hit his second home run of the season. Army is back in action with four games at George Mason this weekend.

Bucknell The Bison remained winless as they were swept in three games at Virginia Tech over the weekend. Ben Allen went 6-for-13 for the weekend, and extended his hitting streak to six games. He has four multiple-hit games this year. Trey Frahler limited the Hokies to just one earned run in seven innings in a 2-1 loss on Friday. Virginia Tech scored 10 runs in the other two games in the series. Frahler's six strikeouts equaled a career high. Head Coach Gene Depew remains two wins shy of 500 for his career. The Bison had Sunday's game at VMI called off, and were again cancelled on Tuesday at La Salle. Bucknell returns to action on Sunday against Miami (Ohio) to start its Spring trip in Lakeland and Winter Haven, Florida.

Holy Cross The Crusaders opened the season by losing three games at Loyola Marymount over the weekend. Nick Ciardiello was 7-for-11 with a home run and three RBI for the weekend. Dan Seip allowed just two runs in 5.2 innings of the closest game of the series, a 4-3 Loyola Marymount win on Saturday. Holy Cross heads to Arizona for a couple of extremely tough matchups, facing Arizona on Tuesday and Wednesday and No. 5 Arizona State on Thursday-Saturday.

Lafayette Lafayette dropped two of three games in its series at James Madison over the weekend. Daniel Bierce again led the way, going 10-for-14 with a home run, four RBI and eight runs scored in the three games. He had a 4-for-6 game with three RBI and two runs scored in Lafayette's 9-8 win, and was 5-for-5 with three runs and an RBI in a 10-9 loss. Corey Shea picked up the victory with three scoreless innings of one-hit relief. Shea has given up only five hits and one earned run in seven innings this season. The Leopards have already had Wednesday's home opener with La Salle called off, and will play a three-game set at Maryland-Eastern Shore over the weekend.

Lehigh The Mountain Hawks posted a 3-2 record last week, winning a doubleheader at Maryland-Eastern Shore on Wednesday and losing two of three games at George Washington over the weekend. Geoff Campbell was 9-for-19 with eight RBI and six runs scored for the week, and also pitched two no-hit innings for a save in the win over the Colonials. Freshmen Corey Kent had a win and a save in the doubleheader sweep of Maryland-Eastern Shore, and also notched the win against GW. Lehigh begins its Spring trip in Palm Beach, Florida by facing Florida Atlantic on Tuesday night.

Navy The Mids tied Delaware State, 5-5, on Wednesday before getting swept by Cornell in a doubleheader on Saturday. Navy had Sunday's doubleheader with Cornell postponed due to weather. The game with Delaware State was called off due to darkness. Sam Long recorded a career-high six strikeouts in the game. Freshman Zach Sipe had seven Ks against Cornell on Saturday, and has 14 strikeouts and only nine hits allowed in 10.2 innings this year. Navy has had three games cancelled this year, and has not played a game where the temperature was above 45 degrees. The Mids had Wednesday's game against UMBC moved to Thursday, and will host Central Connecticut State and Iona this weekend.