CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Lehigh senior outfielder Jacen Nalesnik earned his first Corvias Player of the Week honor after tying Lehigh’s single-season home runs record with 13, over the weekend. Lehigh sophomore RHP Mike Gibbons earned Corvias Pitcher of the Week honors, while freshman teammate Jason Reynolds earned Corvias Rookie of the Week during the final weekly awards of the Patriot League baseball season.
Navy sophomore RHP Noah Song and Lafayette catcher John Selsor were both named weekly honorable mentions for their respective performances during the final week of the season.
PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP BEGINS THIS WEEK
No. 1 Navy (37-15, 16-4 PL), will host No. 4 Bucknell (19-26, 10-10 PL) at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium in Annapolis, Md. for the second-consecutive season. The Mids posted their best League record in program history and the best since Army West Point went 18-2 in 2012. Navy will begin their quest to repeat as Patriot League Champions against Bucknell after taking 3-of-4 games from the Bison during the final weekend of the League play. The Bison clinched a Patriot League Championship berth with a 5-0 win against the Mids on Saturday.
No. 2 Holy Cross (19-25, 12-8 PL) will host No. 3 Army West Point (25-29, 10-10 PL) at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field in Worcester, Mass. The Crusaders claimed the second-seed and hosting duties for the semifinals for the second-consecutive season despite dropping 3-of-4 games to Lafayette over the weekend. Army West Point clinched its spot with a 7-5 victory in nine innings against Lehigh on Sunday afternoon. The Black Knights were the last team to clinch, but moved up to the third-seed because of a 3-1 head-to-head record against Bucknell, who also is 10-10 in League play.
NCAA LEADERS IN THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
*Navy is 30th in NCAA Division I with a team batting average of.303 and 14th in the nation with 528 hits. *The Mids have reached base at a .387 clip this season, the 38th-best in the nation.
*Navy’s Travis Blue is 15th in the nation with 73 hits. Teammate Logan Knowles is fourth in the nation with six triples and fifth with 54 runs.
*Navy outfielder Leland Saile is 11th in the nation with 58 RBIs.
*Lehigh is 42nd in the nation, averaging 1.06 home runs per game. They have a total of 53 this season. *Jacen Nalesnik broke a Lehigh program record, leads the League and is 35th in the nation with 13 home runs. Nalesnik is slugging .606 this season.
*Army West Point catcher Jon Rosoff leads the Patriot League and is 46th in the nation with a .378 batting average. Rosoff is also 31st in the nation with a .478 on-base percentage.
*Army West Point’s Jacob Hurtubise leads the Patriot League and is 38th in the nation with 18 stolen bases.
*Lafayette’s Trevor Houck and Navy’s Kyle Condry are tied for sixth in the nation with four complete games. Bucknell Connor Van Hoose, Holy Cross’s Brendan King and Lehigh’s Levi Stoudt are tied for 13th in the nation with three complete games apiece.
*Lehigh freshman pitcher Levi Stoudt leads the Patriot League and is 65th in NCAA Division I with a 2.34 ERA.
*Bucknell’s Connor Van Hoose is 36th in the nation with 84 strikeouts and 32nd with 11.34 strikeouts per nine innings. Navy’s Noah Song is 52nd in strikeouts with 82 and 56th in K’s/9 at 10.70.
PATRIOT LEAGUE/NCAA BASEBALL WEEKLY AWARDS
CORVIAS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
JACEN NALESNIK, LEHIGH, Sr., RF, Lehighton, Pa.
Nalesnik batted .353 (6-for-17) with one home run and seven RBIs during the Mountain Hawks 1-3 week. Nalesnik went 3-for-5 with a home run, while driving in three runs and scoring three runs against Saint Peter’s. He also went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in Lehigh’s season-finale against Longwood. His home run tied the program’s single-season record with 13. He leads the League and is 35th in the nation in that category.
CORVIAS PITCHER OF THE WEEK
MIKE GIBBONS, LEHIGH, So., RHP, Watchung, N.J.
Gibbons earns his first Corvias Pitcher of the Week award after tossing 3.0 scoreless innings in relief to earn a victory against Saint Peter’s. The sophomore righty allowed just two hits, struck out four batters and walked none.
CORVIAS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
JASON REYNOLDS, LEHIGH, Fr. RHP, Sicklerville, N.J.
Reynolds earns his first Corvias Rookie of the Week award allowing four runs, three earned, on five hits over 5.0 innings pitched against Longwood. The freshman righty struck out six and walked one in the loss.
HONORABLE MENTION
JOHN SELSOR, LAFAYETTE, So., C/DH, La Canada, Calif.
Selsor batted .400 (6-for-15), while slugging .533 and reaching base at a .438 clip to help Lafayette to a 2-1 week. He went 2-for-5 in each of the Leopards three games, driving in a run in each to extend his multi-hit game streak to four. His pair of doubles helped him break the Lafayette single-season program record with 19 doubles on the season, while also leading the Patriot League in that category.
NOAH SONG, NAVY, So., RHP, Claremont, Calif.
Song tossed 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, while striking out four and walking one in Navy’s win over Susquehanna. Song has struck out 82 batters over 69.0 innings this season.
2017 Patriot League Baseball Corvias Weekly Honors
Corvias Player of the Week
5.2.17 – David Young, Lehigh, Sr., 1B, Mullica Hill, N.J.
4.25.17 – Cam O’Neil, Holy Cross, Jr., 2B, Lynn, Mass.
4.18.17 – Steven Cohen, Lafayette, Jr., 2B, Newtown Square, Pa.
4.11.17 – Adrian Chinnery, Navy, Sr., C, Wilmington, Del.
4.3.17 – Leland Saile, Navy, Sr., OF, Land O’Lakes, Fla.
3.28.17 – Connor Donovan, Lehigh, Sr., 1B, Yardley, Pa.
3.21.17 – Evan Lowery, Navy, Fr., DH, Williamsburg, Va.
3.14.17 – Logan Knowles, Navy, Jr., OF, Port Orchard, Wash.
3.7.17 – Leland Saile, Navy, Sr., OF, Land O’Lakes, Fla.
2.28.17 – Stephen Born, Navy, OF, Jr., Strafford, Pa.
2.21.17 – Alex Dickerson, Army, DH, Sr., Roswell, Ga.
Corvias Pitcher of the Week
5.2.17 – Connor Van Hoose, Bucknell, Jr., LHP, Alexandria, Va.
4.25.17 – Mike Castellani, Bucknell, Sr., LHP, Avon, Conn.
4.18.17 – Brendan King, Holy Cross, Sr., RHP, Brookline, Mass.
4.11.17 – Connor Donovan, Lehigh, Sr., RHP, Yardley, Pa.
4.3.17 – Mike Castellani, Bucknell, Sr., LHP, Avon, Conn.
3.28.17 – Mike Castellani, Bucknell, Sr., LHP, Avon, Conn.
3.21.17 – Levi Stoudt, Lehigh, Fr., RHP, Pennsburg, Pa.
3.14.17 – George Capen, Holy Cross, Sr., RHP, Gainesville, Va.
3.7.17 – Ethan Frohman, Lehigh, So., LHP, Berkeley Heights, N.J.
2.28.17 – Noah Song, Navy, RHP, So., Claremont, Calif.
2.21.17 – Trevor Houck, Lafayette, RHP, Sr., Westminster, Md.
Corvias Rookie of the Week
5.2.17 – Austin Masel, Holy Cross, Fr., OF, Stoneham, Mass.
4.25.17 – Zach Biggers, Navy, Fr., 2B, Walhalla, S.C.
4.18.17 – Levi Stoudt, Lehigh, Fr., RHP, Pennsburg, Pa.
4.11.17 – Evan Lowery, Navy, Fr., DH, Williamsburg, Va.
4.3.17 – Carter Van Gytenbeek, Army West Point, Fr., RHP, Greenwood Village, Colo.
3.28.17 – Austin Masel, Holy Cross, Fr., OF, Stoneham, Mass.
3.21.17 – Levi Stoudt, Lehigh, Fr., RHP, Pennsburg, Pa.
3.14.17 – Zach Biggers, Navy, Fr., LF/2B, Walhalla, S.C.
3.7.17 – JohnPaul Bell, Bucknell, Fr., OF, Downingtown, Pa.
2.28.17 – Jacob Williamson, Navy, 3B, Fr., Sims, N.C.
2.21.17 – Brett Kreyer, Lafayette, LHP, Fr, Ashburn, Va.