Baseball Travels to Battle at the Ballpark in Texas

SUGAR LAND, Texas – Army West Point Baseball will play three games in Sugar Land, Texas March 1-3, as part of the Peak Events Battle at the Ballpark.

The Black Knights (4-3) will open the weekend with LA Tech, with a 7:00 p.m. first pitch from Constellation Field. A service academy rivalry matchup is set for Saturday evening, with a 6:00 p.m. game against Air Force. Army finishes the weekend at 1:00 p.m. Sunday against Creighton.

Tickets are available for the event, held at the home of the Sugar Land Space Cowboys, the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. Fans can choose between single game tickets and a weekend pass. D1 Baseball will also stream each game, accessible with a subscription.

Notes and Storylines

» Army was winners of two games out of three played at Stetson University last weekend. After falling 9-7 Friday afternoon against Fordham, the Black Knights took the round robin's remaining games with a 13-8 win over Stetson Saturday evening and an 8-2 win Sunday morning over Maine.

The Black Knights hit a combined .324 on the weekend as a team.

» When Army faces Air Force on Saturday, the service academy teams will renew a storied rivalry. While Army trails the overall series 10-25, the Black Knights took two of its most recent three games against the Falcons, winning the Liberty Classic series to open last season in
Cleburne, Texas.

» Army looks to continue its success against service academy rivals, currently enjoying an 11-2 record in its last 13 games against Air Force and Navy.

» After Sam Ruta started the year with a 9-for-18 first weekend at the plate, the third baseman continues to lead the Black Knights is all major offensive statistical categories, including AVG (.419), home runs (3), RBIs (12) and OPS (1.326). Ruta has a hit in each game this year.

» Braden Golinski is coming off a career weekend, going 7-for-14 at the plate against Fordham, Stetson and Maine, with a combined five RBI. The center fielder also added two home runs against Stetson.

Series History

Army is set to play LA Tech for the first time in program history Friday. After the storied rivalry against Air Force is renewed Saturday, the Black Knights will face Creighton for the first time since 1985—when the teams opened the season with a two-game series split.

Behind Enemy Lines

» LA Tech enters the weekend with an 8-0 record, fresh off a midweek road win Wednesday at McNeese State. Eight Bulldogs are currently hitting above .300, led by Michael Ballard with a .448 AVG.

» Air Force is coming off a sweep last weekend of Navy, at the Freedom Classic in Kinston, N.C. It was the first ever three-game sweep for the Falcons over the Midshipman.

The Colorado program fell to 4-4 in its last matchup, an 11-8 loss at UNC Wilmington. The Falcons boast .300+ hitters and two with an OPS of 1.000 or higher, led by senior Jay Thomason in both departments.

» Creighton also comes into the weekend unbeaten, with a trio of wins last weekend in Sugar Land. The Bluejays have outscored opponents a combined 71-15 this season. Through five games, the squad is led by Nolan Clifford with an eye-popping .611 AVG and 1.000 SLG. Tate Gillen and Ben North in hitting north of .500 on the year (min. 10 Abs).


Next Up

Army will travel back down south next weekend for a four-game series at Georgia State March 8-10, with a doubleheader scheduled between the teams March 9.

Follow the Black Knights

Follow Army Baseball on X @ArmyWP_Baseball and on Instagram @armywp_baseball. Fans can also like Army West Point Athletics on Facebook and learn more about baseball and other programs at goarmywestpoint.com.

Baseball Travels to Battle at the Ballpark in Texas

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Players Mentioned

Braden Golinski

Sam Ruta

Army West Point Athletics