Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Lafayette
Army Sweeps Lafayette To Reach PLCS
May 14, 2011 | Baseball
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
WEST POINT, N.Y. - Clint Moore and David Darnell each hit a key home run and Army received excellent starting pitching as the Black Knights swept a doubleheader from Lafayette on Saturday afternoon at Doubleday Field to win the best-of-three Patriot League Tournament semifinal series and clinch a spot in the 2011 Patriot League Championship Series.
Moore's two-run home run highlighted Army's four-run first inning that helped lift the Black Knights to a 4-2 victory in the opener. Darnell's three-run blast in the sixth inning of the nightcap broke a 1-1 tie and sparked Army's 7-3 triumph.
The series sweep moves the Black Knights (21-24) into the Patriot League Championship Series for the second time in the last three seasons and eighth time overall. It will be Army's sixth appearance in the PLCS since 2000.
Army will face the winner of the Navy-Bucknell semifinal series in the Patriot League Championship Series. The top-seeded Midshipmen and fourth-seeded Bison split today's doubleheader and will play a deciding third game on Sunday afternoon. Should Navy win, Army would travel to Annapolis for the PLCS on May 23-24. If Bucknell wins, Army would host the Bison in a best-of-three series at Doubleday Field on May 24-25.
"I'm very proud of the way we performed today against a very talented Lafayette team," said Army head coach Joe Sottolano. "I thought our preparation over the last couple of weeks was very strong, and it showed today. We received quality pitching in both games, our defense made plays and we swung the bats very well. It was probably one of the best doubleheaders that we've put together all season."
J.T. Watkins and Cody Murtle both went 5-for-9 during the doubleheader to help pace the Black Knights' attack at the plate. Army outhit Lafayette 27-13 during the two-game sweep.
Zach Price was 4-for-4 in the opening game as Army pounded out 13 hits in the contest. Steve May and Watkins each collected two hits apiece in the opener.
Murtle led the charge in the nightcap, going 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Watkins and Darnell both recorded three hits each, while Ben Koenigsfeld posted a pair of base knocks.
Price doubled to lead off the first inning of the opener, moved to third base on Koenigsfeld's sacrifice bunt and scored on Moore's two-run homer that cleared the fence down the left field line. Henshaw and May followed with consecutive singles, and Henshaw scored from second on Watkins' base hit through the left side of the infield. May, who moved to third on Watkins' hit, scored on Brent Peterson's RBI groundout.
Army starter Logan Lee (4-8) made the early run support stand up as the junior lefty allowed just one run on four hits over eight innings of work.
Lafayette (18-30) trimmed the Black Knights' lead to 4-1 in the top of the fourth inning as A.J. Miller walked, advanced to second base on Matt Fenster's single and scored on Bobby Fargnoli's base hit.
Lee faced just two over the minimum over the next four innings as he settled down and got some help from his defense. Army turned double plays behind him in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to keep Lafayette off the scoreboard.
Koenigsfeld allowed one unearned run to score in the ninth inning, but the senior reliever struck out the final two batters with the tying runs on base to earn his seventh save of the season.
Rob Froio went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles to pace Lafayette's six-hit attack in the opener.
Zach Fritz (3-5) was tagged with the loss in the first game after allowing four runs on 13 hits over eight innings. He struck out three and did not walk a batter during his complete game effort.
Army, the designated road team in the second game, took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning in the nightcap. May was hit by a pitch leading off the inning, advanced to third base on Watkins' base hit and scampered home when Peterson bounced into a double play.
Lafayette knotted the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second when Miller walked and scored on Fargnoli's RBI double into the left-center field gap.
The score remained tied until the sixth inning when the Black Knights moved in front 4-1 on Darnell's second home run of the season. Watkins singled leading off the inning and Murtle hit a one-out single to put two men aboard for Darnell, who smashed a towering three-run shot over the fence in left field. The blast, which gave Army a three-run cushion, chased Lafayette starter Ethan Perro (3-4) from the contest.
Lafayette pushed across single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to pull to within 4-3. Brian Davila started the Leopards' sixth-inning uprising with a leadoff single. He moved to second base on Froio's groundout and scored on Alex Bechta's two-out base hit.
Fenster ignited Lafayette's seventh-inning rally with a leadoff walk. Kevin Casey followed with a base hit to put runners on first and third. Army starter Chris Rowley then struck out Fargnoli for the first out of the inning, before freshman Nick Dignacco came out of the bullpen in relief. Pinch-hitter Andrew Santomauro greeted Dignacco with an RBI single to left field, scoring Fenster from third base and making it 4-3. Ken Jackson was then summoned from the Army bullpen, and he struck out Brian Davila for the second out of the frame. Jackson then plunked Froio to load the bases, forcing another pitching change. Gunnar Carroll came on in relief of Jackson and got Scott Kelleher to ground out to third base for the final out of the inning.
Army tacked on a key insurance run in the top of the eighth inning as Peterson singled, moved all the way to third base on a failed pickoff attempt and scored on Murtle's base hit through a drawn-in infield.
The Black Knights added two more runs in the ninth to account for the final margin. Moore walked, stole second and scored on Joey Henshaw's RBI single. Henshaw was then sacrificed to second base and scored on Watkins' RBI single.
Carroll worked around a two-out single in the ninth to nail down his second save of the season. The freshman righty struck out three and allowed just one base hit in 2.1 innings of scoreless relief.
Rowley (4-4) yielded just three runs on five hits in 6.1 innings to pick up the win. He struck out seven and only allowed two walks during his outing.
Santomauro went 2-for-2 to pace Lafayette in the nightcap. Perro was touched for four runs on 10 hits in 5.1 innings in the loss.
Game Notes: Army improves to 68-55-2 all-time versus Lafayette ... the Black Knights are now 6-2 all-time versus the Leopards in Patriot League Tournament play ... Army improves to 18-11 all-time in Patriot League Tournament games ... the Black Knights are 14-6 all-time in PLT games played at West Point's Doubleday Field ... Army has reached the 20-win plateau for the 10th time under head coach Joe Sottolano ... Logan Lee set a career high with eight innings pitched in the opener ... Zach Price matched his career high with four hits in the opener ... Cody Murtle established a career high with four hits in the nightcap ... David Darnell equaled his career high with three hits in the nightcap ... Koenigsfeld moves into a tie for fourth place on Army's all-time saves list (nine) ... his seven saves this season are tied for fourth place on the Black Knights' single-season ledger ... five of Clint Moore's 11 home runs this season have been hit versus Lafayette ... Army wore its white uniforms with black caps for both games of today's doubleheader.
