May 1, 2008

CENTERVILLE, Mass. - Navy baseball starting pitcher Oliver Drake's (So./Gardner, Mass.) gutsy performance against Holy Cross last Sunday continues to earn him recognition, as he has most recently been named the ECAC Pitcher of the Week, it was announced by the conference office on Wednesday.

This is the first time in Drake's career that he has been honored by the ECAC and marks the second Navy player to earn ECAC kudos. Team captain Thomas Hamilton (Sr./Houston, Texas) was recognized on April 10 for his 11-for-21 (.524) performance at the plate with two home runs. Drake is the first Navy pitcher selected as the pitcher of the week since Mitch Harris (Sr./Mt. Holly, N.C.) fired a complete-game, one-hit shutout against Maryland-Eastern Shore last season.

Earlier in the week, Drake was named the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career.

Battling through sickness that sidelined him from starting the second and third game of the series against Holy Cross, Drake stepped up in the series finale - with a home playoff series riding on the line - and threw a complete-game, nine-inning three-hitter with no walks and 11 strikeouts to lead the Midshipmen to a 2-1 victory. The 11 strikeouts were a career high and he carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning. Only two Holy Cross base runners reached scoring position over the course of the entire game.

In two career starts against the Crusaders, Drake has gone the distance in both outings. He is 2-0 with a 0.56 ERA in 16.0 innings with only six hits allowed, one walk and 15 strikeouts.

Drake, who earned pitcher-of-the-week recognition for the first time in his career, owns a 5-3 record with a 3.94 ERA over 10 starts this season, a span of 61.2 innings. The Navy right-hander has allowed just 57 hits, less than one per inning, with 21 walks and 55 strikeouts.

Drake and the Midshipmen (29-21, 11-9 Patriot League) will close out regular season play with a three-game series against New York Tech this weekend, starting on Saturday at 4 p.m. Live stats for all of Navy's home games are available via GameTracker on www.NavySports.com(.)