TAMPA, Fla. - Soaking rains that drenched the state of Florida on Friday did not prevent the Army baseball team from getting in some work during the first day of the Black Knights' spring trip to Florida. It also forced the Black Knights to make several changes to their game schedule this week.
Army head coach Joe Sottolano and his troops were able to work out at the New York Yankees' minor league complex on Himes Boulevard, heading to the batting cages for a 90-minute workout. It was a far cry from the beautiful warm sunshine that greeted the Black Knights on the initial day of their trip to Florida a year ago. But Army was able to put their time in the cages to good use Friday, as it continued to prepare for a nine-day, seven-game stretch that will see Army battle the likes of Long Island, Yale, nationally ranked Florida, Eastern Illinois and Bradley (doubleheader) before closing out the trip with a matchup against nationally ranked Ohio State next Saturday.
Army was set to open its schedule on Saturday with a split doubleheader against Long Island and Akron, but due to the heavy rains that hit Florida on Friday, the Black Knights' game against Akron was cancelled. In order to avoid losing a game on its schedule while in Florida, Sottolano was able to quickly arrange a contest against eighth-ranked Florida in Gainesville on Monday evening.
"We look forward to this trip every year," said Sottolano. "This trip helps us to jell as a team, playing each and every day. What's nice is that our only focus during this nine-day stretch is baseball. We're going to find out a lot about ourselves in terms of our ability, chemistry and our progression. When we leave Florida, we generally have a feel for what type of culture and what kind of direction the team is heading in from both a team and an individual standpoint.
"We have a very challenging schedule down here, which is something we pride ourselves in. In order to get better, you have to play against good competition. We certainly are doing that. We will be playing some ranked opponents, which will really help us measure up. It will provide us a test of where we stand in certain areas of the game. The schedule is difficult for a reason and ultimately will provide benefits to us as we head into conference play."
Army kicks off its southern swing with opposite Long Island on Sunday at Henley Field in Lakeland. The Black Knights will battle Yale the following day (Sunday) in Lakeland, before heading to Gainesville for a Monday night matchup with the highly regarded Gators. After squaring off against defending Ohio Valley Conference regular-season champion Eastern Illinois at Henley Field on Tuesday, the Black Knights will close out their trip with a doubleheader opposite Bradley on Friday in Lakeland and a night game against 17th-ranked Ohio State at Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven on Saturday.
The Black Knights, who took two of three games against UNC Greensboro last weekend, will carry a 4-2 record into their meeting with Long Island on Saturday. Army has posted a .308 team batting average through six contests and features a 3.29 earned run average.
Long Island stands at 1-7 overall and saw its scheduled game against Central Michigan in Lakeland on Friday washed away due to the heavy rain around the state. Long Island, which has been idle since dropping four games at Virginia Tech last weekend, owns a team batting average of .229 and a team earned run average of 6.82.
"We want to come out of this week healthy with a good sense of where we're going to go at individual positions and with our lineup. Throughout the course of this week, I think it's important that we identify roles for players, both positionally and on the mound. We're going to find ourselves in a variety of ball games this week, all of which will help us prepare for our conference season."
With the exception of the contest against Florida, all of Army's games in Florida will take place under the umbrella of the RussMatt Invitational. The RussMatt Invitational is one of the premiere baseball tournaments in the nation, drawing top tier teams from conferences across the country. Last year it drew over 200 college teams participated in just its first year.
Black Knights Blog: In addition to losing the game aainst Akron on Saturday, the start time for Saturday's contest against Long Island was moved back from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. ...the Akron game was cancelled because of the amount of games that needed to be rescheduled on Saturday due to Friday's mass rainouts at the RussMatt Invitational ... Army went 4-3 on its trip to Florida last spring, dropping decisions on its first day against, Miami (Ohio), and its last day, against Ohio State, in the Sunshine State ... in between, the Black Knights registered victories against Sacred Heart, Northern Iowa, Central Florida and Illinois (nationally ranked at the time) ... the Black Knights feature five players that currently sport batting averages above .300 ... Shaun Wixted, who garnered just five plate appearances last season, heads the list at .529 ... he has recorded two hits in four of the five showings in which he has received at-bats this spring ... Joey Henshaw (.375), Zach Price (.375), Kevin McKague (.346) and David Darnell (.308) also sit above the .300 mark ... Kirk Porter (0-1, 1 SV) heads Army's starters with a 2.08 earned run average, followed by Ben Koenigsfeld (2-0) at 2.38 and Matt Fouch (1-0) at 2.89 ... Koenigsfeld, named Patriot League Pitcher of the Week on Monday, has piled up 13 strikeouts against just one walk over 11.1 innings of work ... Henshaw was named Patriot League Player of the Week on Monday ... Army will play five games this week at Henley Field in Lakeland, Fla., the former minor league complex of the Detroit Tigers ... the only games not in Lakeland will be Army's meeting with Florida in Gainesville and the Black Knights battle with Ohio State at Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven ... Army holds a 9-8 series lead against Long Island and defeated the Blackbirds 2-0 last year at West Point ... the Black Knights also lead in their all-time series opposite Yale (51-33-1) ... Army and Yale have not met on the baseball diamond since the teams last shared membership in the Eastern Intercollegiate Baseball League in 1992 ... Florida holds a 4-1 series lead against Army ... the Black Knights defeated the Gators 9-5 in the teams' last meeting in 2004 ... Ohio State holds a 3-0 series edge versus Army ... the Black Knights have never faced Eastern Illinois or Bradley ... Florida is currently ranked eighth in the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 poll and seventh by Collegiate Baseball magazine ... Ohio State lists 23rd and 17th, respectively, in both polls ... first pitch against Florida at McKethan Stadium on Monday is slated for 6:30 p.m.
Courtesy: Army Athletic Communications
