March 7, 2013

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- With snow still lingering in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, Patriot League teams are heading to the sun to get their games in over the next week.

Holy Cross is currently on its spring trip, as the Crusaders have gone west for nine games. They dropped the first five against Nevada and Cal Poly, and close out the run in the next four days against Michigan, St. Louis and host San Diego.

Army, Bucknell and Navy all start spring break this weekend and head to Florida for their games. The Black Knights open up on Saturday with a doubleheader against Yale, while the Mids and Bison each start on Saturday. Each team will play multiple games over the week in the Tampa area.

Lehigh and Lafayette go shorter distances for their upcoming action. The Mountain Hawks play at Coppin State this weekend and have games in North Carolina and Maryland next week. The Leopards head to Maryland Eastern Shore this weekend, then play a weekend series at North Florida next weekend.

After the fun in the sun, the Patriot League season will not be far off. The League slate begins on the weekend of March 30-31, with the Navy/Army series set for March 31-April 1 due to the Black Knights' exhibition with the New York Yankees on March 30.

Patriot League Twitter Notebook
*Lehigh won four of six games last week to improve to 5-4 overall.
*The Mountain Hawks had two Patriot League weekly awards on Monday, including Justin Pacchioli as the first Player of the Week since 2007.
*Holy Cross is playing four games in San Diego this weekend.
*Army, Navy and Bucknell all head to Florida for contests this week.
*Army's Chris Rowley and Holy Cross' Jordan Enos were named Senior CLASS Award candidates last week.
*Holy Cross leads the Patriot League with a .294 batting average.
*Lehigh paces the League with a 4.26 ERA.
*Ten Patriot Leaguers are hitting .300 or better for the season.
*Navy's Ben Nelson leads the League with a 1.59 ERA.
*Lehigh has three pitchers with an ERA under 4.00.
*Lafayette leads the Patriot League with three home runs, while no player in the League has more than one.

Army's Rowley, Holy Cross' Enos Named Senior CLASS Award Candidates
Army pitcher Chris Rowley and Holy Cross first baseman Jordan Enos have been selected as two of 30 candidates for the 2013 Baseball Senior CLASS Award, it was announced last week. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2013 NCAA College World Series® in Omaha June 15-26.

Lehigh Breaks Through in Patriot League Weekly Awards
After going 4-2 last week, Lehigh snatched a couple of Patriot League weekly honors for the first time in years. Sophomore Justin Pacchioli was named the Patriot League Player of the Week, becoming the first Mountain Hawk to claim the honor since 2007. Meanwhile, junior Colin Gotzon took home Lehigh's first Pitcher of the Week honor since 2011. The Mountain Hawks are 5-4 on the season, the only Patriot League team with a winning record.

Rowley Earns Pair of Preseason All-America Honors
Coming off an All-America season, Army senior pitcher Chris Rowley garnered the same recognition in the preseason. Rowley was named a first-team pick by National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) and collected second-team laurels from Collegiate Baseball. Rowley went 11-1 with a microscopic 2.40 earned run average last season en route to earning three All-America certificates. He was honored by the NCBWA (second team), Collegiate Baseball newspaper (second team) and CollegiateBaseballInsider.com (honorable mention).

Pair of Patriot Leaguers Named to NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List
Army junior Gunnar Carroll and Navy senior Joel Rinehart were each named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List earlier in the month. The list includes 75 elite relief pitchers from across the country for the honor that is presented to the top reliever in Division I.

Holy Cross, Army Share Preseason Favorite Role in Patriot League Baseball
Holy Cross and Army staged a memorable Patriot League Baseball Championship series in 2012, with the Black Knights prevailing in three games for their sixth League title. Coaches and sports information directors expect the teams to be just as competitive in 2013, placing the Crusaders and Black Knights tied at the top of the sport's preseason poll announced on Feb. 6. Holy Cross and Army shared the top spot with 45 points, with the Crusaders collecting six first-place votes to five for the Black Knights. Holy Cross has never won a Patriot League regular-season or Tournament title, while Army has been crowned regular-season champion eight times with the six Tournament crowns. The Black Knights have finished in first place in the regular season in four of the past five seasons. Navy claimed third place in the poll with 32 points, while Bucknell followed with 29 points and the remaining first-place vote, Lafayette totaled 15 points and Lehigh had 14.

Holy Cross' Ahmed, Army's Rowley Take Top Individual Honors
Preseason individual awards were handed out for the first time, and again it was Holy Cross and Army leading the way. Holy Cross junior third baseman Mike Ahmed was named Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year, while Army senior starting pitcher Chris Rowley took home the Preseason Pitcher of the Year honor. Ahmed was a first-team All-Patriot League pick last season, while Rowley earned the Patriot League Pitcher of the Year award in 2012 while also being named an All-American by multiple outlets. For the full Preseason All-Patriot League Team, see the box on the left-hand sidebar of the page.

Patriot League Baseball Weekly Awards

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
JUSTIN PACCHIOLI, LEHIGH So., OF, Easton, Pa.
Pacchioli batted .533 in four games for the Mountain Hawks as Lehigh went 4-2 in its action last week. He was 5-for-10 with a double, triple, three runs and five RBIs in a doubleheader sweep of Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday. Pacchioli also put up a 3-for-4 performance in a loss to Fordham on Saturday. He is named Patriot League Player of the Week for the first time, and is the first winner of the award from Lehigh since 2007.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
COLIN GOTZON, LEHIGH Jr., P, Bethlehem, Pa.
Gotzon picked up a pair of victories last week as he allowed one run in nine innings of work against Maryland Eastern Shore and Iona. He earned the win against UMES by going five innings with one run allowed on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts in the 13-2 triumph. Gotzon came out of the bullpen against Iona and shut down the Gaels, tossing four scoreless innings with two hits and three walks surrendered while striking out six as Lehigh pulled out a 4-3 win in 10 innings. He struck out nine batters in his nine innings of work for the week. Gotzon earns his first Patriot League Pitcher of the Week award, and first for Lehigh since 2011.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
MAX KRA, BUCKNELL Fr., P/3B, Bethesda, Md.
Kra saved Bucknell's first win of the year on Sunday, pitching two scoreless innings with two hits allowed and one strikeout in a 7-4 triumph over Harvard. He retired the side in order in the eighth inning, and induced a 6-4-3 double play to end the game. Kra has not allowed a run in three appearances covering 6.2 innings this season and claims his first Rookie of the Week award.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
GREG DUPELL, NAVY Sr., OF, Tampa, Fla.
Dupell batted .500 with three doubles, four RBIs and two runs scored in Navy's four-game weekend series with Central Connecticut.

BRANDON CIPOLLA, HOLY CROSS Jr., OF, Abington, Mass.
Cipolla hit .538 with three runs scored, two RBIs and a double in Holy Cross' three-game series at Nevada, and leads the Patriot League with a .458 batting average this season.

BRYSON HOUGH, BUCKNELL So., P, Fairfax, Va.
Hough allowed one run over seven innings and left with the score tied in Bucknell's 2-1 10-inning loss to Harvard on Friday.