March, 8, 2010

Center Valley, Pa. - The Navy and Army baseball teams each continued their winning ways early in the 2010 season, with the Mids taking all four games last week to improve to 10-1 overall and the Black Knights winning two of three to move to 4-2. The schools shared the Patriot League weekly awards, with Army's Joey Henshaw and Ben Koenigsfeld honored along with Navy's Johnny Schoberl.

Patriot League Baseball Release - 3.8.10

Patriot League Baseball Player of the Week (March 1-7)

Joey Henshaw, Army Jr., DH-1B, Gainesville, Ga.
Henshaw wins the Player of the Week honor for the first time after three strong games to lead the Black Knights to a series victory at UNC-Greensboro over the weekend. He batted .545 with a home run, six RBIs, three runs scored and two doubles, and also walked three times and stole a base. Henshaw did his most damage as Army secured the series win by taking the second of the three-game set on Saturday. He went 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs in a 9-6 victory, falling just a triple short of the cycle. Henshaw scored a run and had an RBI in all three games.

Patriot League Baseball Pitcher of the Week (March 1-7)

Ben Koenigsfeld, Army Jr. P, New Port Richey, Fla. The reigning Patriot League Pitcher of the Year earns the weekly honor for the first time this season and second in his career after shutting down UNC-Greensboro for six innings in a 9-6 victory on Saturday. Koenigsfeld fired 5.1 innings of no-hit ball before finishing his afternoon with one run and two hits allowed in six innings of work. He walked only one and struck out eight in the outing. He had retired 11 straight and 14 of 15 batters when the no-hitter was broken up with one out in the sixth inning. The victory gave Army its first 4-1 start since the 1986 season, and improved Koenigsfeld's career mark to 16-8. He is 2-0 with a 2.38 ERA in starts against Wake Forest and UNC-Greensboro in 2010.

Patriot League Baseball Rookie of the Week (March 1-7)

Johnny Schoberl, Navy Fr., P, Milford, N.J. Schoberl tossed five scoreless innings to lead Navy to a 13-5 win over Coppin State on Wednesday. He scattered six hits and did not walk a batter while striking out six in the outing. Schoberl earned his first-career win in his first start. For the season, he has 11 strikeouts and no walks over eight innings of work. Schoberl earns the Rookie of the Week honor for the first time.

Honorable Mention Performances Last Week (March 1-7)

Eric Oxford, Holy Cross Jr., 1B, Danvers, Mass.
Oxford batted .500 with two home runs and five RBIs in four games for the Crusaders last week.

Ben Yoder, Bucknell Sr., 2B, Belleville, Pa.
Yoder scored seven runs in three games for the Bison over the weekend, also hitting .500 with two RBIs and three doubles.

Alex Azor, Navy So., OF, Miami, Fla.
Azor hit .533 with six runs and five RBIs and a double in Navy's four games last week, all victories.

Nate Koneski, Holy Cross So., P, North Dighton, Mass.
Koneski recorded each of the Crusaders' wins last week, allowing two runs in outings against Georgia Southern on Monday and Charleston Southern on Saturday.

Patriot League Notebook

Navy Off to Outstanding Start
With four more wins this week, Navy is already halfway to its 2009 win total and the season is barely even two weeks old. The Mids are off to a 10-1 record after beating Coppin State at home on Wednesday and sweeping a three-game series against Central Connecticut State over the weekend. Navy is the only Patriot League team to play at home thus far, and holds a perfect 5-0 record in Annapolis. The Mids are off to their best start since going 11-1 in the 1981 campaign, and will try to match that record when they host Mt. St. Mary's on Tuesday afternoon.

Army Opening Up Hot, Too
Not to be outdone by its rival, defending Patriot League Baseball champion Army won four of its five games for the first time since 1986. The Black Knights did it against a very difficult slate, beating Dayton and splitting with Wake Forest from Feb. 19-21 before taking the first two contests at UNC-Greensboro over the weekend. Army's fast start was slowed some with a loss at UNC-Greensboro on Sunday, but the Black Knights are still 4-2 for the first time since 2004.

More Action from the Week
Holy Cross and Bucknell also posted wins over quality competition last week, with the Crusaders going 2-5 on a very difficult road trip to Georgia Southern, College of Charleston and Charleston Southern and the Bison traveling to the Elon Tournament and beating the host and Princeton while falling to Radford. Lehigh lost the first game of the RussMatt Tournament in Davenport, Fla. to Butler on Sunday, while Lafayette fell to 0-6 by dropping its three-game series at Richmond.

Next Stop: Florida
Three Patriot League teams will spend time in the Sunshine State this week. Lehigh is already there, playing St. Bonaventure and Fairfield on Monday, Miami (Ohio) on Tuesday and Sacred Heart on Wednesday in the RussMatt Tournament in Davenport. The Mountain Hawks already started the event against Butler on Sunday, and finish a very busy mid-term break with a three-game series at Coppin State over the weekend. Army begins its trip to Winter Haven and Lakeland with games against Akron and Long Island on Saturday and Yale on Sunday, while Bucknell heads to the region to face UMBC on Sunday after playing a road game at Villanova on Tuesday. Navy's action is once again at home by playing Mt. St. Mary's on Tuesday and Monmouth over the weekend. Lafayette and Holy Cross stay in the Mid-Atlantic as well, as the Leopards face Rider Tuesday and take on Seton Hall and NJIT over the weekend, and the Crusaders have a three-game weekend set at Delaware.

Army Takes First Place in Preseason Poll
Defending Patriot League Baseball champion Army was selected by coaches and sports information directors to claim the crown again in 2010. Army garnered 46 points and eight first-place votes to take the spot in the League's preseason poll. The Black Knights were followed by Bucknell, which had 39 points and the remaining four first-place votes. Holy Cross was picked third with 35 points, and followed in order by Navy (27), Lafayette (21) and Lehigh (12). Patriot League Baseball head coaches and sports information directors voted in the poll, and were not eligible to vote for their own teams.

All-League Returnees
Army returns five of its six players that earned First-Team All-League honors a year ago, while Bucknell has five of its eight All-League players back. Holy Cross, Navy, Lafayette and Lehigh all have at least one All-League player from a year ago. Ten of last year's 12 First-Team All-League players are back in 2010, and 16 of the 25 return overall.

2010 Patriot League Tournament
The 2010 Patriot League Baseball Tournament will include four teams and be played over two weekends for the third straight season. The best-of-three semifinals will be at the site of the top two seeds on May 15 and 16, with the best-of-three Patriot League Championship at the site of the highest remaining seed on May 22-23.

Team Notebooks

Army The Black Knights won games over UNC-Greensboro on Friday and Saturday to record four wins in their first five games for the first time since 1986, and are still off to their best start since 2004 after falling in the series finale on Sunday. Matt Fouch and Ben Koenigsfeld recorded the victories on the mound for the Black Knights, who won a road series against a team that came into the action with a 6-2 record. Fouch earned the win in a 6-3 triumph on Friday, while Koenigsfeld allowed just one run over six innings in a 9-6 victory on Saturday. Joey Henshaw batted .545 in the series with a home run and six RBIs. He was 3-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs in Saturday's victory. Army has won its games against tough competition, starting the year by beating Dayton and splitting with host Wake Forest. The Black Knights head to Winter Haven/Lakeland, Florida for their next seven games beginning on Saturday.

Bucknell The Bison won two of three games at the Elon Tournament over the weekend, defeating the host 18-3 on Friday before falling to Radford, 4-2, on Saturday and knocking off Princeton, 10-4, on Sunday. The Bison had won four straight before falling to Radford, and have won five of six after an 0-4 start. Ben Yoder scored seven runs in the three games, going 8-for-16 at the plate with three doubles and two RBIs. Bucknell pays a visit to Villanova on Tuesday, then begins its week in Florida by facing UMBC on Sunday.

Holy Cross The Crusaders took on a tough slate to open their season down south, and came away with two wins in seven games against Georgia Southern, College of Charleston and Charleston Southern. Nate Koneski earned each of the victories, allowing just two runs over 7.2 innings of a 3-2 win ove r Georgia Southern on Monday and again giving up just two runs in six innings for an 8-3 win over Charleston Southern on Saturday. Eric Oxford closed out the stretch in style, going 9-for-18 with two home runs and five RBIs in Holy Cross' last four games. That included a 5-for-5 day with a homer, two RBIs and three runs scored in a loss to College of Charleston on Wednesday. Holy Cross heads to Delaware for a three-game series this weekend.

Lafayette The Leopards remained winless on the season, falling to 0-6 overall after dropping a three-game set at Richmond over the weekend. Lafayette fell 7-1, 11-2 and 10-7 to the Spiders. The Leopards will again have four chances at getting in the win column this week, facing Rider on Tuesday in Flemington, N.J. before going to Seton Hall to play the host Pirates and NJIT over the weekend.

Lehigh Lehigh started its action in the RussMatt Tournament in Davenport, Fla. by falling to Butler, 9-8, on Sunday. Logan Winchester was 2-for-5 with two RBIs in the game. The Mountain Hawks have a busy week ahead, playing St. Bonaventure, Fairfield, Miami (Ohio) and Sacred Heart in Florida over the next three days before a three-game series at Coppin State on Friday and Saturday.

Navy The Mids are off to their best start in nearly 30 years, and will try to match the 11-1 record of the 1981 squad when they host Mt. St. Mary's on Tuesday. Navy extended its overall record to 10-1, and has a five-game winning streak, after winning a home contest against Coppin State on Wednesday and sweeping a three-game series from Central Connecticut State in Annapolis over the weekend. Navy improved to 5-0 at home this season. The Mids are already halfway to last year's win total of 20. Navy posted a double-digit run total in three of the four games, beating Coppin State 13-5 on Wednesday before sweeping a doubleheader over Central Connecticut State, 12-9 and 14-8, on Saturday. The Mids went to 11 innings to beat Central Connecticut State, 5-4, on Sunday. Navy continues the home cooking this week, playing Mt. St. Mary's on Tuesday before facing Monmouth over the weekend.