CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - Though he failed to earn a victory on Sunday after putting forth one of the finest pitching performances of his collegiate career,
Ben Koenigsfeld made history on Monday, nonetheless, when he was named Patriot League Pitcher of the Week for the second consecutive week.
With his citing on Monday, Koenigsfeld becomes the first Patriot League hurler to garner the conference's top weekly pitching award on successive weeks since 2007 and only the eighth pitcher in Patriot League history to accomplish the feat.
Last season's Patriot League Pitcher of the Year, Koenigsfeld scattered five hits while allowing only three unearned runs over six innings during a no-decision effort versus Yale on Sunday in Lakeland, Fla. Koenigsfeld struck out nine and walked only one. After yielding three unearned runs in the second inning, the New Port Richey, Fla., native allowed just four base runners over his final four innings of work, and only two to reach scoring position. He departed with Army holding a 5-3 lead.
Koenigsfeld, who lowered his seasonal earned run average to 1.56, has now struck out 22 and walked just two in 17.1 innings of work this spring. He stands 2-0 overall.
It marks the third time Koenigsfeld has earned Patriot League Pitcher of the Week honors in his West Point career.
With a conference-best five Patriot League championships to its credit, Army has also dominated the circuit's weekly awards since joining the conference in 1993. The Black Knights have piled up 111 weekly awards in that time -- more than any other Patriot League team. Army has garnered 35 conference player of the week honors, 46 pitcher of the week citations and 30 rookie of the week honorees. All three figures rank first among Patriot League members.
Black Knight players have claimed at least one of the conference's top three weekly awards following each of the three weeks they have competed this season. In addition to Koenigsfeld's honor last week, Joey Henshaw was recognized as the conference's player of the week. Kevin McKague received Patriot League Player of the Week laurels following the first weekend of the season last month.
Army (5-3) returns to action on Monday, battling nationally ranked Florida in Gainesville. First pitch at McKethan Stadium is slated for 6:30 p.m. A video web stream broadcast of the contest will be available via ITT Knight Vision.
Courtesy: Army Athletic Communications
