Navy releases 2008 Schedule

The Naval Academy and Head Coach Paul Kostacopoulos have released their 2008 schedule. They will open in the Service Academy Spring Classic where they will face Air Force twice and Arkansas State in a single game. They will open the Patriot League portion of the schedule when they head to Lafayette on March 29th and 30th. The Midshipmen will also visit Bucknell and Lehigh (two games) in Patriot League action. They will host Holy Cross, Army, and Lehigh (two games) in Patriot League showdowns. The league has changed the playoff system for 2008 in which four teams will make the postseason. The top seed will host a best of three series against the fourth seed and the second seed will host the third seed in the best of three series. The two winners will match up in the next weekend with the winning deciding the Patriot League championship. The press release is available here and the full schedule is available here.

Penn edges Lehigh

The Penn Quakers slipped by Lehigh on Tuesday by a score of 6-5 in ten innings. Freshman Matt Toffaletti hit a line drive through the infield with the bases loaded to drive home Kyle Armeny with the winning run. Armeny also led the offense by going 4-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored in the victory. Penn relief pitcher William Gordon gets the victory to up his record up to 2-0 while Rob Russell gets the loss to even his record at 1-1. Penn will be back in action on Wednesday when they head to Rider while Lehigh is off until this weekend when they head to Lafayette.

Penn Recap
Lehigh Recap

Lafayette wins Liberty Bell Classic

The Lafayette Leopards knocked off the Lehigh Mountain Hawks 7-3 in the Liberty Bell Classic final on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. Dave Drechsel led the Leopards by going 3-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored. He was only a triple shy of the cycle. Brian Cope pitched 5.1 innings while only letting up one unearned run to bring his record up to 2-1 on the season. Lehigh starter Billy Alec was lit up in the only inning he pitched which was the first by giving up four runs on three hits. Lafayette will be back in action Wednesday when they play Monmouth. Lehigh will head to Rider on Wednesday also.

Lafayette Recap
Lehigh Recap
Morning Call Recap

Holy Cross sweeps Lehigh

The Holy Cross Crusaders swept the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in Patriot League action on Saturday. Scott Hampe pitched a no-hitter in game one. He allowed four walks as they accounted for all the base runners for Lehigh. Norm Roth led the Crusaders with two hits in his three at bats. He also scored two runs in the game. Brendan Akashian went 3-4 with 3 RBIs in Game 2 to lead Holy Cross to a 6-3 victory.

Holy Cross Recap
Lehigh Recap

Liberty Bell Classic Semifinal Results

The Lafayette Leopards and Lehigh Mountain Hawks both picked up victories in the semifinals of the Liberty Bell Classic to qualify for the final on April 10th at Citizens Bank Park home of the Philadelphia Phillies.

Lafayette used a ten hit attack to knock off the Penn Quakers by a score of 10-2. The Leopards got a strong start from Brad Woodfield who went six innings while giving up two unearned runs. Jeff Butler led the offense by going 3-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. Kevin Leasure also had a strong game by going 2-3 and two RBIs. The Quakers top hitter for the game was Williams Gordon who went 2-3. The Quakers starter Robbie Seymour gave up eight runs on six hits and two walks in 4.1 innings. Penn will be back in action on Wednesday at 6pm when they visit Lehigh. Lafayette will head to NJIT for a 6pm game also.

Lafayette Recap
Penn Recap

The Lehigh Mountain Hawks got ten runs in the first inning to cruise to a 14-4 victory over Temple to advance to the Liberty Bell Classic final next Tuesday at Citizen Bank Park. Joe Ercolano and Liam O'Connor each scored two runs in the first inning to lead the Hawks to the ten run inning. Lehigh starter Joe Matteo pitched four scoreless innings to get his first win of the year against three losses. Temple starter Rob Chamra only lasted 1/3 of an inning while letting up nine runs (one earned) to put his record at 0-2 for the season. Temple will be back in action Friday when they head to Dayton while Lehigh will face Penn at Limeport Stadium.

Lehigh Recap
Temple Recap