April 7, 2008
Center Valley, Pa. - With the first two weekends complete, Navy and Holy Cross have the early lead in the Patriot League race. The Mids have won three of four games in each of their series so far, and had a six-game League winning streak before losing the final game to Lehigh on Sunday. Holy Cross had a 5-0 start before losing two of its last three games against Army to split the weekend series. Lafayette notched a key series win against Bucknell, with the Leopards taking three of four games to put both teams at 4-4 in League action.
Patriot League Baseball Release - 4.7.08 
Player of the Week (March 31-April 6)
Thomas Hamilton, Navy Sr., IF, Houston, Texas
Hamilton led Navy to a 3-2 week, including three wins in four games at Lehigh, by posting a .542 batting average with two home runs, seven RBI and four runs scored. He also hit a pair of doubles and put up a .905 slugging percentage. Hamilton started the week with a 3-for-6 effort with two doubles and two RBI at Maryland. He had a pair of hits in both games as Navy swept a doubleheader from Lehigh on Saturday, then went 3-for-3 with a home run and two runs scored in the Mids' 4-2 win on Sunday. Hamilton capped the week with a home run in Navy's 6-5 loss to Lehigh. He drove in a run in all five games, and now has a 12-game hitting streak. Hamilton earns his first Player of the Week honor of the year, and second of his career.
Pitcher of the Week (March 31-April 6)
Kevin Reese, Lafayette Sr., P, East Stroudsburg, Pa.
Reese pitched Lafayette to a 1-0, series-opening win over Bucknell by scattering seven hits with no walks and striking out six in a complete-game seven-inning effort. He shut out a Bucknell team that came into the weekend leading the Patriot League and in the NCAA top 40 in batting average and runs. Reese lowered his season earned run average to a League-best 2.18, and also leads the League with a .191 opponent batting average. He earns Pitcher of the Week honors for the second time this year, and fourth in his career. Reese is the first pitcher to win the award twice in 2008.
Rookie of the Week (March 31-April 6)
Corey Shea, Lafayette Fr., P, Hanson, Mass.
Shea provided Lafayette with a series victory over Bucknell by allowing just one unearned run in seven innings of a 2-1 triumph over the Bison on Sunday. Shea gave up five hits and two walks while striking out four to earn his first collegiate win. He held down a Bucknell offense that leads the Patriot League in most major categories, and lowered his season ERA to 2.37. Shea earns the Rookie of the Week award for the first time.
Patriot League Notebook
Pitching Beats Hitting
Strong pitching performances defined the weekend in Patriot League play, with three shutouts and four games where the losing team scored only one run. There were an additional three contests where the losing squad had two runs, making it 10 of 12 games where the losers were held to two or less. Lafayette's Kevin Reese and Holy Cross' Matt Shapiro both spun seven-inning complete-game shutouts, while Army's Ben Koenigsfeld threw seven scoreless innings. Lafayette had wins of 1-0 and 2-1 over Bucknell, while Holy Cross beat Army, 2-1, on Sunday.
Rivalry Weekend
Two of the Patriot League's top rivalries will convene over the weekend, with Lafayette traveling to Lehigh and Army visiting Navy. Sunday's first game between Army and Navy can be seen on CBS College Sports Network. The best series in terms of records takes place in Lewisburg, where 6-2 Holy Cross visits 4-4 Bucknell.
Another Chapter for Lafayette and Lehigh
Before they play this weekend, Lafayette and Lehigh will face off in an important tune-up on Tuesday. The Leopards and Mountain Hawks meet in the final of the Liberty Bell Classic, which pits eight teams from the Philaelphia region, for the second year in a row on Tuesday at 8 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park in the City of Brotherly Love. Lafayette defeated Lehigh, 7-3, for last year's Liberty Bell Classic crown. The non-League contest will not count towards the Patriot League standings.
Busy Week for All Patriot League Teams
The Leopards and Mountain Hawks aren't the only squads taking on a big week of non-League contests. Every team but Bucknell will play a pair of games on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Holy Cross and Army both playing two at home. Patriot League teams were 4-3 in non-League action last week and are 59-63-2 for the year.
Moving up the Lists
Patriot League student-athletes are starting to climb up the all-time leaderboard in League statistics. Army's Cole White, Bucknell's Jason Buursma and Navy's Mitch Harris are all listed in three categories. White ranks third in League annals with 23 home runs, eighth with a .361 batting average and tied for eighth with 19 victories. Harris and Buursma also have 19 victories, and are close on the all-time ERA list with Buursma in second overall at 2.23 and Harris third at 2.28. Harris is second in all-time strikeouts with 265, while Buursma has been bumped down to third in all-time saves by Navy's JD Melton, who places second with 16 saves in less than two seasons of work.
Patriot League Players Filling up Watch Lists
Navy's Mitch Harris, Army's Cole White and Bucknell's Mathew Wilson have all been named to the 2008 Roger Clemens Award Watch List. They are part of a group of 78 pitchers up for the award as college baseball's pitcher of the year. That same trio was also named to the Brooks Wallace Award Player of the Year Watch List before the season. Wilson and teammate Jason Buursma are two of the 30 candidates named to the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award watch list, while Holy Cross' Brendan Akashian is one of 36 catchers named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch list, which goes to the top catcher in the country.
Team Notebooks
Army The Black Knights split a four-game series with Holy Cross over the weekend. They have lost the first game of all four Patriot League doubleheaders to date, but have won the second contest three of four times. Drew Clothier and Matt Fouch both took no-hitters into the sixth inning in Sunday's contests against the Crusaders. Army had 24 runs and 34 hits in its wins against the Crusaders, but just one run and 10 hits in the losses. Cole White moved into second place in Army history, and third in Patriot League annals, with 23 career home runs. Freshman pitcher Ben Koenigsfeld had his first career League victory Saturday, throwing seven shutout innings. Army hosts Iona and Manhattan in mid-week action, and travels to rival Navy for a four-game set this weekend. Army won four of five against the Mids last year, and has won 14 of the last 17 in the series. Sunday's opening game is televised on CBS College Sports Network.
Bucknell The Bison dropped three of four contests at Lafayette over the weekend. They lost two games by one run, falling 1-0 on Saturday and 2-1 on Sunday. Jason Buursma took the loss in the 1-0 contest despite allowing just the one run on three hits with no walks and a career-high nine strikeouts in six innings. Mark Angelo hit the first two home runs of his career in the series. The Bison entered last week's play as the Patriot League leader and in the NCAA top 40 in batting average, runs, hits and doubles. They continue to lead the League in each of the categories. Bucknell has finished its League road schedule, and only plays one more road game after Tuesday's visit to Towson. The Bison play their first Patriot League home series of the year with four games over the weekend against Holy Cross.
Holy Cross The Crusaders maintain a share of first place in the League standings after splitting four games with Army over the weekend. Matt Shapiro fired a complete-game shutout in game one of a series for the second weekend in a row. The Crusaders scored a walk-off run on a bunt in the bottom of the seventh inning for a 2-1 triumph in Sunday's opening game. Holy Cross is one win shy of matching last year's total of 12, and two League victories away from equaling last year's total of eight. The Crusaders visit Bucknell for this weekend's series after hosting Northeastern and Hartford during the week.
Lafayette The Leopards earned a key series win against Bucknell, taking three of four contests. Kevin Reese and Corey Shea both allowed no earned runs over seven innings to lead the Leopards to one-run wins of 1-0 and 2-1, respectively. Rob Froio scored and drove in a run in the 2-1 triumph. Reese leads the Patriot League in earned run average (2.18) and opponents batting average (.191). The Leopards also lead in overall team ERA (4.76) and fielding percentage (.981). They entered last week as the No. 1 team in the nation in fielding percentage. Lafayette also advanced to the finals of the Liberty Bell Classic, where they will play Lehigh in a non-Leauge game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Tuesday night. After a game against Monmouth, Lafayette plays Lehigh again for a four-game series in Bethlehem this weekend.
Lehigh After dropping their first seven League contests, the Mountain Hawks got in the win column with a 6-5 triumph over Navy in Sundays' final game of the series. Brendan McGaheran hit the game-winning home run in the seventh inning as Lehigh rallied from a 5-3 deficit. Andrew Grim pitched five scoreless innings of relief to get the win, his second of the week after throwing 3.2 scoreless innings in the Liberty Bell Classic second round against Temple on Tuesday. Lehigh has more wins (14) than all of last year (13). Lehigh is in the Liberty Bell Classic final against rival Lafayette on Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, and plays a four-game series at home against the Leopards this weekend.
Navy The Mids took three of four games for the second weekend in a row in League play, this time topping Lehigh. Navy is tied for first place with Holy Cross with a 6-2 League mark. Thomas Hamilton and Jonathan Wright have extended their hitting streaks to 12 and 10 games, respectively. Navy starting pitchers Mitch Harris, Mark McCoy and Oliver Drake all have an ERA under 2.00 against Patriot League hitting this year, and all picked up a win against the Mountain Hawks over the weekend. Navy has won 87 games since the start of the 2006 season, the most wins over a three-year stretch in program history. The previous mark of 84 was set from 1981-83. Navy hosts rival Army for four games this weekend. Sunday's opening game will be broadcast by CBS College Sports Network.
