May 8, 2002

ANNAPOLIS, Md.-Navy's home baseball game against George Washington, scheduled for Thursday at 3 p.m., has been cancelled because George Washington does not have a game available to play. The game was scheduled several weeks ago in hopes that the Colonials would have a game rained out and would need someone to fill their schedule and to give the Mids a game under their belt before the Patriot League Baseball Tournament. Navy has not played since sweeping a doubleheader from Lehigh on April 29.

The Mids will play host to the upcoming league tournament at Max Bishop Stadium beginning Saturday. Lehigh swept a four-game series from visiting Lafayette Saturday and Sunday, giving Navy its eighth regular-season championship in the last 10 years. The Leopards needed two wins to clinch the title outright and host the tournament, however the Mountain Hawks scored three victories by two runs or less, allowing Navy to host the league tournament for the third consecutive year. The Mids have qualified for the tournament every year since entering the league in 1993.

Lehigh and Lafayette will play Saturday at 12 noon in the elimination game with the winner advancing to play Navy in a best-of-three series.

"It is postseason time now, and nobody has won anything yet," Navy head coach Steve Whitmyer said. "Three teams are in the race, and we are just excited to be in it. As a coaching staff, we are pleased to have finished the season strong and be able to host the tournament. As far as I am concerned, the tournament is up in the air, so we'll see what happens next weekend."

Navy (20-23, 13-7 Patriot League) has won 11 of its last 15 games heading into the tournament, including nine of its last 12 league games. The Mids captured three-out-of-four from both Lafayette and Lehigh during the regular season, going 5-1 against the two teams in games decided by three runs or less.

The last time the host team won the league tournament was in 1998 when Navy defeated Bucknell, 11-3 and 8-6 in Annapolis. In 2000, Army won the third and deciding game over Navy, while Bucknell swept the Mids in the best-of-three series last season at Max Bishop Stadium.