ON DECK: Fourth-seeded Lafayette makes its first Patriot League Tournament appearance since 2012 when it visits No. 1 Navy for a best-of-three semifinal series. A doubleheader will be played Saturday beginning at noon, and the third game (if necessary) will take place Sunday at 1 p.m. The winner of this series will move on to play the winner of Holy Cross and Lehigh in next weekend's championship series.
WEEK IN REVIEW: In case you missed it, the Leopards collected quite a few awards this week. On Monday, freshman John Cain was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week. On Tuesday, Lafayette earned six spots on the All-Patriot League Team, tying for the most in the league with Holy Cross. And on Wednesday, Toby Schwartz earned Patriot League Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors and was one of five Leopards voted to the Academic All-Patriot League team.
SCHWARTZ' HONORS: Schwartz earned second-team All-Patriot League status as both a starting pitcher and first baseman, becoming the first player since 2009 to earn All-League recognition both on the mound and in the field. The senior was outstanding in Patriot League action as he hit .327 in League play while going 3-1 with a 2.50 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 36 innings in his five League starts. In the classroom, he carries a 3.63 cumulative grade-point average while double-majoring in English as well as Film and Media Studies and minoring in Economics. He became Lafayette's fifth Patriot League Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year honoree and gave Lafayette repeat winners for the first time after fellow senior Cory Spera claimed the award last season.
ACADEMIC TEAM: Joining Schwartz on the Academic All-League Team were Spera, juniors Michael Coniglio and Tyler Hudson and sophomore Alex Woinski. Lafayette led the league with its five honorees, and no other school has placed more than five players on the Academic All-Patriot League squad in the same year since the team became an annual occurrence in 2011.
ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE TEAM: Third baseman Tyler Hudson and designated hitter Campbell Lipe earned first-team honors at their respective positions. Hudson led all qualified third basemen in the Patriot League with a .916 fielding percentage, while Lipe led the conference with nine doubles and a .593 slugging percentage during league play. Joining Schwartz on the second team was senior outfielder Brett Thompson and freshman shortstop Steven Cohen. Thompson led the team with a .333 batting average during all games, and paced the entire conference during Patriot League games with a mark of .385. Cohen led the Leopards with five home runs and 20 RBIs, while batting .279 and adding seven doubles. The six All-League selections was the most for Lafayette since placing nine on the team during the 2007 championship season.
SCOUTING THE MIDSHIPMEN: Navy had a week filled with awards as well, with outfielder Sean Trent earning Player of the Year honors, Luke Gillingham getting named the unanimous Pitcher of the Year, and Paul Kostacopoulos being voted as the Coach of the Year. Trent enters the Patriot League Tournament with a .419 batting average and 85 hits, leading the League in both categories while placing fifth in the nation in batting average and topping all Division I players in hits for the season. Gillingham stands 8-1 with a 0.90 ERA and 110 strikeouts entering the postseason. He is tied for the Division I lead in strikeouts, ranks fifth in ERA and is second in WHIP (0.66). Navy topped the Patriot League with a team batting average of .281 and a team ERA of 3.00.
LAST TIME VS. NAVY: Lafayette visited Navy on April 11th and 12th, with the Midshipmen taking three-of-four. Game one was a pitcher's duel between Gillingham and David Bednar (7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K) that went to extra innings before Navy won 2-1. Lafayette pounded out a season-high 19 hits in game two en route to an 11-8 win. Schwartz threw 10 innings of a 12-inning, 3-2 loss in game three, and Navy claimed game four 8-6 despite Lafayette out-hitting the Midshipmen. Three Leopards hit over .400 in the series, with Hudson going 8-for-18, Thompson batting 7-for-16 and Woinski hitting 7-for-16 with a homer.
PROBABLE STARTERS: Game one in Annapolis will pit a pair of lefties against each other in Gillingham (8-1, 0.90) and Schwartz (3-4, 4.30). Two right-handers will face off in the nightcap when Stephen Moore (6-2, 2.84) meets David Bednar (3-6, 2.78). Sunday's matinee will see RHP George Coughlin (6-3, 4.29) opposing LHP John Cain (1-2, 3.60).
LAFAYETTE IN THE PLAYOFFS: The Leopards last made the Patriot League Tournament in 2012 when they visited Army in the semifinals and lost two games. This year's seniors were freshmen during that season, and Parker Hills was named to the All-Tournament Team after going 3-for-5 with two RBIs. James McCool started both games but did not record a hit and Tim Lazor started one game, going 2-for-5. On the mound, Schwartz started a game and took a loss after allowing three runs (two earned) in four innings. Alex Farina threw 1.2 hitless innings out of the bullpen. This year is the eighth time that Lafayette has qualified for the Tournament. The Leopards won the crown in 2007 and advanced to the finals in 2004 and 2009.
