Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Akron
Akron Defeats Army, 4-1
March 05, 2011 | Baseball
Box Score
FOREST CITY, N.C. - Joey Henshaw went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and Logan Lee established a new career high with seven strikeouts, but it was Akron coming away with a 4-1 victory over Army on Friday evening at McNair Field.
Lee (1-2) was saddled with the tough-luck loss after allowing two runs on seven hits in 6.0 innings. The Laguna Niguel, Calif., native had control of the strike zone throughout the contest, as evidenced by his zero walks. Gunnar Carroll relieved Lee in the top of the seventh and he gave up two runs on four hits in 2.1 innings. Kirk Porter came out of the bullpen to get the final two outs of the ninth inning.
After managing just a pair of singles in their 7-1 setback to Ohio State earlier on Friday, the Black Knights registered seven hits in the nightcap. Henshaw, who smoked a pair of line drive doubles off the wall in right field, led the way as the Gainesville, Ga., product was the only Army player to record multiple hits in the game.
Alex Loftin (1-2) picked up the victory on the mound for Akron after allowing one run on four hits in 7.0 innings. He recorded seven strikeouts and walked three in his outing. Chris Bassitt, the fourth Akron pitcher of the night, worked into and out of trouble in the ninth inning to earn his second save of the season.
Sam Watkins went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI to pace Akron's offense. Kurt Gamby collected three singles for the Zips, who banged out 12 base hits in the contest.
Lee nearly got into trouble in the top of the first inning as Akron put runners on second and third with just one out. Lee was able to strike out Brandon White and Sam Watkins in succession, however, to get out of the jam.
After that first-inning scoring chance, neither team was able to get much offense going over the first three innings as the two pitchers combined for seven strikeouts during that time.
Akron (2-7) broke the scoreless deadlock and took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning when Sam Watkins blasted a solo home run over the 25-foot wall in left center field.
Army (1-8) tied the score in the bottom of the fifth as the Black Knights strung together a couple of hits. J.T. Watkins singled to lead off the frame and he advanced to second on David Darnell's sacrifice bunt. Zach Price followed with a single to right field, moving Watkins over to third, and the Black Knights' catcher scored on Steve May's fielder's choice grounder.
The Zips reclaimed the lead in the top half of the sixth inning with three straight one-out singles. Sam Watkins ignited the rally with a base hit, and he moved to second base on Brady Stewart's single. Darius Washington then delivered an RBI single to score Watkins and put Akron on top, 2-1.
Army put together a serious threat in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Black Knights put runners on second and third with two outs. Brent Peterson reached first on an error to lead off the inning, and he advanced to second on Shaun Wixted's sacrifice bunt. A groundout by J.T. Watkins allowed Peterson to reach third base, and Darnell walked and stole second to put two men in scoring position. Loftin was able to retire Price on a groundball to shortstop, however, to end the threat.
Akron added to its lead in the top of the eighth inning when Sam Watkins was hit by a pitch, advanced to second on Gamby's single and scored on Matt Copora's pinch-hit RBI single.
The Zips tacked on another run in the ninth inning thanks to back-to-back singles and then consecutive walks. Sam Watkins picked up an RBI as he drew a bases loaded walk to force in Akron's fourth run of the contest.
The Black Knights nearly made a valiant comeback in their final turn at bat, loading the bases with two outs in the ninth inning. Wixted began Army's rally with a two-out infield single. After J.T. Watkins drew a walk, pinch-hitter Sean McIlroy reached on an infield single of his own to load the bases. Bassitt was able to get Price to hit into a fielder's choice, though, forcing pinch-runner Clayton Mosley at second base to end the game.
Army will wrap up its weekend road trip to Forest City, N.C., on Saturday, March 5, with a 3 p.m., matchup versus Western Carolina. The game was originally scheduled for Sunday morning, but has been moved up due to the weather forecast that calls for rain.
Game Notes: Tonight's game marked the first-ever meeting between Army and Akron ... Logan Lee's previous career high for strikeouts was four ... Henshaw has hit 27 doubles in his career ... it marked Army's second night game of the season ... the Black Knights donned their all-white uniforms with gold caps tonight.
