McCants Powers Baseball Past Holy Cross

Saturday, April 18

West Point, N.Y.

12:00 PM

Army West Point

18-17, 5-8

Holy Cross

17-20, 8-5

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Holy Cross	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	8	0
Army West Point	2	0	2	0	0	0	X	4	6	1

McCants Powers Baseball Past Holy Cross

April 18, 2015 | Baseball

Box Score

April 18, 2015

Box Score | Box Score (PDF)

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Mark McCants drove in three runs with a pair of triples and the Army West Point baseball team held off Holy Cross 4-3 in game one of Saturday's doubleheader at Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field. Alex Robinett pitched his sixth complete game of the season and collected his fifth win of the year in the victory.

Robinett (5-4) allowed three runs and eight hits with seven strikeouts and one walk over seven innings of work. He was backed by two Army runs in the first and two in the third. Designated Harold Earls scored twice and Alex Jensen also drove in a run with a single in the third.

Army West Point won its third straight home game and improved to 5-8 in the Patriot League, while Holy Cross dropped to 8-5 in conference games.

Holy Cross (17-20) had two runners on base as a result of a pair of hit batsmen with one down in its first trip to the plate, but Robinett picked off the man at second base and recorded his second strikeout of the inning to escape the jam.

Holy Cross right hander Donny Murray hit two batters in Army West Point's first inning and after a double steal by Earls and Ben Smith, which was Earls' program record 76th career steal, McCants stepped to the plate with one away. The first pitch he saw from Murray was driven to the warning track in left center field where Holy Cross' centerfielder Evan Ocello dove and had the ball deflect off his glove. McCants motored around for a bases-clearing triple to put the Black Knights in front 2-0 after one.

Robinett took advantage of a double play to end the second and threw a perfect third, including a pair of strikeouts to keep Army West Point (18-17) in front by two.

With Earls on second and one out in the bottom of the third, McCants went the other way with a triple to the wall that made it 3-0. McCants' triple was his third of the season and he scored on a single down the left field line by Alex Jensen that increased the advantage to 4-0.

The Army West Point right hander came back out in the fourth and ran into trouble with consecutive two-out singles by Anthony Critelli and Cam O'Neill. Bill Schlich worked a full count and drew a walk to load the bases and Holy Cross opted for left-handed pinch hitter Connor Perry. Robinett left the bases loaded with a swinging strikeout to end the inning.

Following a clean fourth frame from Murray, Robinett surrendered base hits to the first two Holy Cross hitters he faced in the top of the fifth. A single through the hole on the left side by Nick Lovullo helped the visitors push their first run across as runners remained at first and second with nobody out. Ocello flied out into the right field corner for the first out, as the baserunners moved into scoring position for Jack St. Clair. He put a ball in the air in right center that was deep enough to score the runner from third to cut the deficit in half. Critelli was up next and he ripped a double down the left field line to bring home another run. Robinett punched out Schlich to end the inning, but Holy Cross pulled within one at that point at 4-3.

Murray sent down the Black Knights in order again and retired six straight before Robinett was forced to work out of the stretch again in the sixth. The first two hitters reached on a single and an error, but the Black Knights kept the Crusaders off the board by getting the first out when catcher Ben Smith caught the man at second in no man's land for the first out, then a groundout and strikeout preserved the slim lead.

Murray also threw a complete game, but took the loss to fall to 1-3 on the year. He surrendered four earned on six hits over six innings of work. The Holy Cross right hander fanned four and did not walk a batter.

Game two of Army West Point and Holy Cross' doubleheader is underway.

Game Notes: Army West Point its white jerseys with white pants and white caps with gold brims ... Mark McCants extended his hitting streak to 12 games ... McCants posted his 11th multiple RBI game of the season and 13th multi-hit game.