WEST POINT, N.Y. — The Holy Cross baseball team fell to Army West Point in Games 1 and 2 of a best-of-three Patriot League Tournament semifinal series on Saturday, May 14.
The Crusaders' season comes to a close with the pair of losses, while Army West Point advances to the championship series.
GAME ONE
Army 9, Holy Cross 3
STATS LEADERS:
Holy Cross:
Whinney (1-for-4, home run, two RBI)
Kirkpatrick (2-for-4, double)
Wang (1-for-4, home run)
Army:
Early (W, 8.0 IP, three earned runs, seven strikeouts)
Cerruto (2-for-4, double, two runs scored)
Ruta (2-for-5, double, RBI)
W: Early (7-3)
L: DiLauro (1-7)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- After a one-out single and stolen base, a single to left put a run on the board for Army in the bottom of the first.
- Freshman left fielder Nick Wang evened up the score with a solo home run to lead off the second.
- The Crusaders loaded up the bases with two outs in the top of the third, but a fielder's choice ended the threat and left the score tied.
- After an error by the Crusaders, a sac fly gave Army a 2-1 lead.
- A two-run home run by freshman catcher Andrew Whinney gave Holy Cross a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth. Freshman second baseman Connor Peek nearly followed with a solo home run of his own, but the ball was caught at the wall in left field.
- Army put up five runs in the bottom of the fourth to launch back into the lead, 7-3.
- The Black Knights tacked on two more runs in the seventh to extend their advantage to 9-3.
GAME TWO
Army 14, Holy Cross 2
STATS LEADERS:
Holy Cross:
Peek (3-for-3, two runs scored, stolen base)
Scanlon (1-for-2, three walks, two RBI)
Jones (2-for-5)
Army:
Manesis (4-for-6, double, five RBI)
Dubrule (4-for-6, double, four runs scored)
Ruta (3-for-5, two doubles, four RBI)
Meade (3-for-6, four runs scored)
W: Dawson (4-1)
L: Chudy (2-6)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Army took a 4-0 lead after two innings.
- Holy Cross put two runners aboard to lead off the fourth with a walk issued to freshman right fielder Sean Scanlon and a single by Wang. The duo moved to second and third after a two-out wild pitch, but they were unable to score.
- Army tacked on two more runs in the fourth to extend the lead to 6-1.
- After back-to-back singles by Peek and freshman third baseman Brendan Jones, a single by Scanlon scored Peek and put the Crusaders on the board, but that was all HC pushed across in the fifth.
- Army added another pair of runs to take an 8-1 lead in the sixth.
- Holy Cross loaded up the bases in the top of the seventh with three straight singles, and Scanlon walked in a run to bring Holy Cross within 8-2.
- Army scored six unanswered runs in the seventh and eighth innings to take a commanding 14-2 lead.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:
- Wang, who was presented with his Rookie of the Year award prior to Saturday's contests, reached base in all 39 games he played this season.
- Peek recorded five multi-hit games in his final seven contests of his rookie campaign, batting .480 (12-for-25) in that stretch.
