Giachin provides a spark for Army

Leadoff double in 9th ignites winning rally against Midshipmen

Anthony Giachin started everything for Army in Game 1 on Friday night, so it only made sense that he was in the middle of the ending of Game 3 on Sunday afternoon.

The sophomore third baseman drove a ball to left field for a leadoff double in the ninth inning and came around to score what proved to be the winning run as Army defeated Navy, 4-3, to capture the Patriot League Tournament championship series.

“I wasn’t having the best of days before that and I knew I was in a big spot there, especially since they just grabbed the momentum the previous inning,” Giachin said. “I knew I had to get something going and fortunately, I was able to poke it to left field. It was two teams battling it out with great pitchers. It was a great game, fun to be a part of.”

Giachin went 2 for 5 with an RBI a day after going hitless in the middle game of the series. He and leadoff hitter Jacob Hurtubise, who went 2 for 2 and reached base in all five plate appearances, led Army (35-24).

“Jacob is a pain in the butt on the base paths and he drives the other team crazy. With (Hurtubise) hitting on front of you, you have a lot of chances to drive in a run and Anthony is always comfortable at the plate,” Army head coach Jim Foster said. “He has a real good approach and he knows how to use the back side of the field; he is not just pull. He goes foul pole to foul pole.”

The Black Knights had their lead-off batter reach base in six of nine innings. Four of those runners would score with Hurtubise coming across twice.

Hurtubise got Army going in Game 3 against Navy starter Charlie Connolly, drawing a walk then stealing second. It was his 43rd swipe of the year, which is good for third in the nation. Giachin drove him in with a single to right to make it 1-0.

“That has been my goal all season — be the best leadoff hitter in the country,” Hurtubise said. “Get on base and let my guys drive me in. One of our team goals every game is to score first. We have a great staff and when we let them pitch with confidence, good things happen.”

The Midshipmen (39-17) stranded two runners in the second and another in the third before tying the game in the fourth. Zach Stevens struck out, but reached first as the ball eluded catcher Blake Ledoux.

A throwing error by Giachin sent Stevens to third and Liam Lowery drove him in with a sacrifice fly.

Navy took the lead in the fifth when Evan Lowery led off with a triple and scored on an RBI single by Zach Biggers.

“Both teams have a resiliency defensively. Neither team gives in,” Navy coach Paul Kostacopoulos said. “Both teams make good pitches when they need to and, quite frankly, play the game the way it is meant to be played.”

Army evened the game again in the sixth as Hurtubise led off with a single and scored two batters later on an Andre Walden sacrifice fly.

Connolly struck out five and allowed two runs on three hits in 5 2/3 innings, while his counterpart, Daniel Burggraaf, also allowed two runs on three hits while striking out four in six innings.

With the bases loaded for Army in the sixth, Jackson Zoch relieved Connolly and induced a ground out to end the inning.

Ledoux led off the seventh with a single for Army and scored on a one-out single by Josh White. White had a chance to drive in more runs in the eighth, but his two-out, bases-loaded drive to right-center was tracked down by a diving Joe Simourian.

“They did a good job of getting on and we did a good job of thwarting them,” Kostacopoulos said. ”That was a game-saving play in center field. I thought they competed hard and we competed just as hard. It was a well-played, hard-fought weekend.”

Army’s closer, Cam Opp, relieved Burggraaf to start the seventh. He retired the side with two strikeouts in that inning and set down Michael Coritz to start the eighth, but Biggers followed with his first homer of the season. Navy’s standout second baseman sent a 2-0 pitch over the left field fence to tie the score at three.

Navy had runners on first and third when Opp ended the threat by getting Jacob Williamson to ground out to third.

“Both teams were one two-out hit away from busting it open,” Foster said. “They did not give an inch and we did not give an inch. We just got one at the end.”