Army Baseball Coasts into PL Tourney

The 2012 Army baseball team stormed through the regular season, finishing with an impressive 37-12 record. On Saturday the Black Knights begin Patriot League Tournament play with a best of three series against Lafayette, a team that Army dominated in the regular season. Look inside for more about the conference tournament.

Army (37-12) vs. Lafayette (14-35)
Saturday (game 1: Noon; game 2: 2:30 pm)
Sunday (game 3: 1 pm, if necessary)

Site: West Point, N.Y. Venue: Johnson Stadium (Doubleday Field, 880)

Army Black Knights

Head coach: Joe Sottolano

Key players: First baseman Kevin McKague was named the Patriot League’s Player of the Year for 2012. He is the conference all-time leader in hits and has 179 doubles in his time at Army. McKague has 5 homeruns this season and 24 for his career. Patriot League Pitcher of the Year Chris Rowley headlines a stout Army pitching staff. The righty has 66 strikeouts while allowing 44 hits and just 13 walks. Plebe third baseman Harold Earls won the league Newcomer of the Year honors after batting .348 with 7 doubles and 19 stolen bases.

Lafayette Leopards

Head coach: Joe Kinney

Key players: Junior second baseman Kevin Casey earned Second Team All-Patriot honors after batting .318 with 10 RBIs for the Leopards. Casey is the only Leopard who batted over .300 this season. Right-handed pitcher John Gentile is 1-10 on the season with a 5.29 ERA. He’s the best of the Leopard regulars and has 33 strikeouts but has allowed 78 hits and 37 earned runs in 63 innings. Closer Jeff Snell has 6 saves this season and a respectable 3.53 ERA. The righty was named the Leopards’ Most Valuable Pitcher following the 2011 season.

Head to Head

Category	Army	Lafayette
Runs scored	283	179
Batting Avg	.290	.229
On base percentage	.384	.302
Slugging Percentage	.361	.305
Walks	176	142
ERA	3.15	5.41
Strikeouts	302	306
Opp. Batting Avg.	.243	.300
Walks allowed	124	200

The winner of the Army-Lafayette series will face the winner of the Holy Cross-Navy series in a championship series next weekend. The Black Knights get the home field advantage as the conference regular season champion.