March 12, 2013

Patriot League Baseball Release - 3.12.13

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- Four of the six Patriot League teams have their spring break this week, and each will have plenty of action ahead.

Army, Bucknell and Navy are all spending their week in the Winter Haven/Lakeland area in Florida. Each squad has four games remaining for the week after already playing a handful. Army swept three games from Yale over the weekend, while Bucknell won twice and Navy split in games on Sunday and Monday.

Lehigh is the hottest team in the Patriot League, as the Mountain Hawks have won five games in a row and ran their record to 8-4 with a three-game sweep at Coppin State over the weekend. The Mountain Hawks are on spring break this week and have games at UNC-Greensboro and North Carolina A & T before traveling to Mount St. Mary's for a three-game weekend series.

Lafayette heads to Temple on Wednesday, then goes south for a three-game series at North Florida over the weekend. Holy Cross, which had its spring break trip to California last week, returns to the Northeast and goes to St. John's for a weekend series.

Patriot League teams have won 12 of their 17 games since Saturday, with Army and Lehigh each winning three during that span and Bucknell claiming two wins. The stretch has doubled the League's win total coming into the weekend.

Patriot League Twitter Notebook
*Patriot League teams are a combined 12-5 since Saturday.
*The stretch accounts for half of the League's win total this season.
*Lehigh has won five straight after a three-game sweep at Coppin State.
*Army, Bucknell and Navy are all playing games in Florida this week.
*The Black Knights won their first three contests against Yale.
*Bucknell claimed its first two on the trip on Sunday and Monday.
*On Sunday, Bucknell's Bryson Hough tossed the school's first nine-inning complete-game shutout since the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
*Army's Chris Rowley and Lehigh's Colin Gotzon each threw seven shutout innings over the weekend.
*Holy Cross leads the Patriot League with a .277 batting average.
*Lehigh paces the League with a 3.64 ERA.
*Holy Cross' Andrew Barry leads the Patriot League with a .429 batting average, the only player over .400 for the season.
*Navy's Ben Nelson leads the League with a 1.35 ERA.
*He also leads in wins, strikeouts, starts and innings pitched.

Patriot League Notebook

Patriot League Teams Beginning to Heat Up
Maybe some fun in the sun was all Patriot League teams needed. After slow starts, the six League squads are starting to play better with a 12-5 cumulative mark in games played since Saturday. Army began its spring trip to Florida with a three-game sweep of Yale on Saturday and Sunday, while Bucknell has opened with wins over North Dakota State and Fairfield and Navy has a 1-1 mark in its first two contests. Lehigh swept a weekend series at Coppin State to improve to 8-4 on the season, while Lafayette split a four-game set at Maryland Eastern Shore and Holy Cross beat St. Louis to cap a very difficult spring trip to California.

Spring Break Trips Dominate the Slate
Four Patriot League schools are on spring break, and they all have plenty of action this week. Army, Bucknell and Navy each head to Florida for their contests for the week. Each school has four games remaining in the Winter Haven/Lakeland region. Lehigh is also on its spring break, and is playing games at UNC-Greensboro and North Carolina A & T before a three-game set at Mount St. Mary's. Holy Cross plays a three-game weekend series at St. John's after finishing its spring break trip last week, while Lafayette starts its spring week of games over the weekend with a visit to North Florida before returning for action in the Mid-Atlantic.

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. 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.

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).

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
KASH MANZELLI, NAVY Jr., 1B, Dunwoody, Ga.
Manzelli became the first Navy player since 2011 to go 5-for-5 in a game when he did so in a 12-0 win over LIU-Brooklyn on Sunday. He also scored two runs and drove in a pair in the lopsided win to kick off Navy's spring trip in Florida. Manzelli is named Patriot League Player of the Week for the first time.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
BRYSON HOUGH, BUCKNELL So., P, Fairfax, Va.
Hough tossed his first-career shutout and second-career complete game to lead the Bison to a 3-0 win over North Dakota State on Sunday. In his nine innings of work, Hough scattered six hits and a walk with three strikeouts. It was his first nine-inning complete-game and the first Bucknell shutout since last April. Hough is the first Bison to toss a nine-inning shutout since Mathew Wilson did it against Florida State in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Only one baserunner reached third base, and a pair reached in an inning just once. Hough claims his first Patriot League Pitcher of the Week award.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
JACOB PAGE, ARMY Fr., OF, Wilson, N.C.
Page is off to a fast start on Army's spring trip, going 5-for-9 with five runs scored and four RBIs in a three-game sweep of Yale over the weekend. He was 4-for-7 with three runs and four RBIs in a doubleheader sweep on Saturday before going 1-for-2 with two runs and two stolen bases in Sunday's 4-1 win. Page earns his first Patriot League Rookie of the Week award.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
COLIN GOTZON, LEHIGH Jr., P, Bethlehem, Pa.
Gotzon picked up the victory in Lehigh's 1-0 triumph over Coppin State on Saturday by tossing seven scoreless innings with just three hits and two walks allowed and seven strikeouts.

CHRIS ROWLEY, ARMY Sr., P, Duluth, Ga.
Rowley scattered eight hits and struck out five in seven scoreless innings to earn the victory in Army's 4-1 triumph over Yale on Sunday.

TRAVIS CLARK, BUCKNELL Sr., INF, Foster City, Calif.
Clark went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two stolen bases in a 3-0 win over North Dakota State on Sunday.

EVAN OCELLO, HOLY CROSS So., OF, Camarillo, Calif.
Ocello batted .421 with a home run, three doubles, seven RBIs and five runs scored in six games for the Crusaders last week.

ALEX JENSEN, ARMY So., INF, Charlotte, N.C.
Jensen hit .417 with five runs scored and four RBIs in Army's three wins over Yale over the weekend.

JOHN ELSON, LEHIGH So., SS, Basking Ridge, N.J.
Elson went 4-for-10 with three runs scored, two RBIs and four stolen bases in Lehigh's three-game sweep at Coppin State.

KEVIN CASEY, LAFAYETTE Sr., 2B, Cherry Hill, N.J.
Casey batted .357 with seven runs scored and two RBIs in five games for the Leopards last week.