May 1, 2008
Center Valley, Pa. - A pair of outstanding pitching efforts in key Patriot League games have led to national awards, with Army's Ben Koenigsfeld earning a place on the College Baseball Foundation's National All-Star Lineup and Navy's Oliver Drake receiving the ECAC Pitcher of the Week honor.
Koenigsfeld threw a nine-inning two-hit shutout to lead Army over Lafayette, 7-0, on Saturday. The victory clinched the top seed in the Patriot League Tournament for the Black Knights, who won the regular-season title with a 13-7 record. It was Koenigsfeld's first-career shutout and complete game as he tossed 6.1 innings of no-hit ball and allowed only two singles. Koenigsfeld ran his Patriot League record to a perfect 4-0 with the effort, and he finished with a 2.57 earned run average in League play.
Koenigsfeld is the second Patriot Leaguer to earn a spot on the College Baseball Foundation lineup, following Bucknell's John Avanzino earlier in the season.
Drake won Patriot League Pitcher of the Week honors by giving up just an unearned run on three hits with no walks and a career-high 11 strikeouts in a nine-inning complete-game effort to lead Navy past Holy Cross, 2-1, on Sunday. The victory made the Mids the No. 2 seed in the Patriot League Tournament, and earned them home field in the semifinal series against No. 3 Holy Cross on May 10. Drake threw 109 pitches, 78 of which were for strikes, for his first nine-inning complete game.
On the last week of ECAC selections, Drake's honor closes out a strong season for Patriot League student-athletes on the list. He is the sixth Patriot Leaguer and second pitcher to receive weekly recognition. Patriot League student-athletes claimed six of the 12 weekly baseball awards given out by the ECAC in 2008.
The Patriot League Baseball Tournament field is set, with the semifinals beginning on May 10 as No. 4-seed Bucknell visits No. 1 Army and No. 3 Holy Cross goes to No. 2 Navy. The winners of the semifinal series will advance to the Patriot League Championship series, which will begin on May 17 at the site of the higher seed. Both rounds will be three-game series, and every contest in the Tournament will go nine innings.
