June 1, 2002
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.-Navy (23-24) relief pitcher Steve Goocey struck out George Washington (42-23) cleanup hitter Mike Bassett with two on in the ninth inning to give the Mids a 6-4 victory over the Colonials and the school's first NCAA Tournament victory in 20 years and just the fourth in school history. Navy will play the loser of this afternoons second game between 23rd ranked Richmond (50-10) and fourth ranked Wake Forest (42-11-1) tonight at 7 p.m. The game can be heard on the internet only at www.wnav.com(.)
"That was a great win for us, it was actually pretty emotional for me" said Navy head coach Steve Whitmyer. "Our guys were pretty disappointed yesterday, because they didn't feel like they showed anybody here in the regional or nationally that we belonged in this tournament. I think we had a little extra incentive and motivation to play well today. They gave every ounce of everything they had. I'm real proud of them."
Navy starting pitcher Matt Foster was sensational, giving up just three earned runs and eight hits in 7.1 innings of work. He walked three and struck out seven.
"I came in with the mindset that I wanted to get as far into the game as possible," said Foster. "We used a lot of pitching yesterday, so we really didn't want to use a lot today."
George Washington touched Foster for a run in the first on a leadoff bloop single to center by Tony Dokoupil and a two-out RBI single by Bassett.
Navy, though, would come right back in the bottom of the first when Pete Curnow led off with a double off the top of the wall, was moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt by John Cocca and came home on a RBI single by Chris Ashinhurst.
Navy made it 2-1 in the bottom of the third on a run scoring fielders choice off the bat of Ashinhurst and made it 3-1 in the fourth on Brad Hager's second home run in as many days, a blast over the light pole in left field.
"I am swinging the bat real well right now," said Hager. "The ball seems to be flying off my bat."
The Colonials tied the game in the top of the fifth as Nick Iovacchini scored on a wild pitch and Jeff Fertitta tripled in Jake Wald.
Navy though, as they have done all year, would come right back in the bottom of the fifth.
Dave Woolsey led off the inning with a double and Curnow legged out an infield single, moving Woolsey to third. After Curnow stole second, Cocca lined into a double play, as GW pitcher Jason Baker caught Cocca's line drive and doubled Woolsey off third base. Ashinhurst then came up with the biggest hit of the day, bouncing a single up the middle, scoring Curnow. Ashinhurst's single was made even bigger when Craig Candeto followed with a two-run rocket over the left field fence to give Navy a 6-3 lead.
"It felt good to be able to come through in that situation," said Candeto. "All year guys have been on base for me and I haven't come through in the clutch so I would have been happy with just a single."
The Navy bats were shut down the rest of the way by the George Washington bullpen as Colonial relievers Mike O'Connor and Justin Orenduff tossed 3.1 hitless innings, but the Navy bullpen was equal to the task.
Foster was lifted in favor of Zach Poelma with one out in the eighth after Chris Barry singled to left and Poelma got Joe Michalski to fly to right and Anthony Raglani to fly to center to end the inning.
Poelma started the ninth but quickly got in trouble as he hit Iovacchini, the eighth place hitter, and walked Tony Brown, the ninth place hitter.
Whitmyer then went to his closer, Brian Koehler, who got pinch hitter Travis Crowder to ground out to first as the runners moved up to second and third. Koehler then got Wald to ground to short as Iovacchini scored to make it 6-4. Fertitta then worked Koehler for a walk, bringing up the GW cleanup hitter, Bassett.
Whitmyer went to his bullpen once last time and brought in the lefthander Goocey and Goocey stuck out Bassett to end the game.
Navy's last NCAA tournament win came back in 1982 when the Mids defeated Delaware (3-1) and Seton Hall (15-5) in the Northeast Region in Orono, Maine. It was also just the second NCAA Tournament win for a Patriot League school, the other coming in 1993 when Fordham beat Connecticut.
The win also leaves Navy as one of just 48 teams left in the tournament, as 16 of the 64 teams were knocked out in this mornings elimination games.
"There have been some outstanding Navy baseball teams over the last 20 years, some better than others," said Whitmyer. "This win is a tribute to all those guys who played before us and our entire athletic department. Any time any team from Navy can win a postseason contest it is exciting and is a boost for the entire athletic department."