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April 11, 2006

Box Score

BALTIMORE - Senior Jonathan Johnston (Hamilton Township, N.J.) went 4-for-5 with a run scored, RBI and three stolen bases as Navy defeated UMBC, 5-1, in baseball action on Tuesday evening at The Baseball Factory Field. The Midshipmen, who were playing their fifth road game in three days, improved their mark to 26-10-1 on the year, while the Retrievers dropped to 10-18.

"Jonathan (Johnston) completely was our offense tonight," stated Navy head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "I am real happy for him. He has worked hard and those things paid off for him tonight."

UMBC took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning on a Mark Lemon run-scoring single. However, the Midshipmen answered back with two runs in the top half of the third and did not trail for the remainder of the contest.

Johnston got things started with a one-out single, stole second and third and came home to score on a passed ball. Sophomore Mitch Harris (Mt. Holly, N.C.) reached on a walk and would eventually score on a wild pitch to put the Mids ahead 2-1.

After four scoreless innings, the Retrievers loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, but Navy reliever James Lee (Asheville, N.C.) got out of the jam while preserving the lead courtesy of a strikeout and a flyout.

The visiting Midshipmen immediately followed with two runs in the eighth and one in the ninth. Harris led off the eighth with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. A groundout advanced Harris to third and senior team captain D.J. Faldowski (Washington, Pa.) was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners. Freshman Joshua Martinez (Denver, Colo.) produced a sacrifice fly to score Harris to give the Mids a 3-1 cushion. Sophomore Renaldo Hollins (Virginia Beach, Va.) pinch-ran for Faldowski and plated Navy's second run of the inning on a fielding error and after he was interfered with in a run-down.

Junior Dominic Lopez (Quincy, Mich.) began the ninth with a single through the left side and took second as the leftfielder bobbled the ball. Lopez moved to third on a passed ball and scored on Johnston's fourth hit of the evening, a single to left-center.

Following his 1.1 innings of shutout relief in the opener of yesterday's doubleheader at Lafayette, junior southpaw Daniel Kovalcik (Westwood, Mass.) tossed 5.2 solid innings in his first start in nearly two months to pick up the win. Kovalcik scattered two hits and one run with three walks and four strikeouts to improve his record to 1-1 on the year.

"Daniel (Kovalcik) truly had an outstanding performance when we really needed it," said Kostacopoulos. "We think he has real good ability and he showed it tonight."

Lee hurled 1.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen and senior left-hander Ryan Hefner (Creve Coeur, Ill.) held the Retrievers scoreless over the final-two innings to earn his seventh save of the season.

Johnston's four hits tied his career high he set at East Carolina on March 11 last season. The three stolen bases matched his season high he last performed against Central Connecticut State on March 5.

In addition to Johnston, Harris went 1-for-1 at the plate with three walks and two runs scored.

UMBC starter Dan Blewitt was tagged with the loss after he walked four and struck out two while allowing two hits and two runs in three innings of work. Blewitt's record dropped to 1-1 on the campaign.

Lemon recorded two hits and drove in UMBC's lone run of the game on Tuesday.

Navy returns to action this Saturday and Sunday with a Patriot League four-game set against Lehigh at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium in Annapolis. Game time is slated for 12 noon for both days. Live stats for each of the four games this weekend will be available on GameTracker through Navy's website, www.navysports.com. In addition, Navy All-Access will carry a live audio broadcast of Sunday's doubleheader, with Joe Miller calling the action. Navy All-Access is a subscription service on www.navysports.com that allows subscribers access to numerous live and archived events for only $6.95 a month.