Robinett Sets Academy Strikeout Record

Friday, May 1

West Point, N.Y.

7:00 PM

Army West Point

21-24

Air Force

19-24

Air Force

Army West Point

Robinett Sets Academy Strikeout Record

May 01, 2015 | Baseball

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May 1, 2015

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WEST POINT, N.Y. - Senior right-handed pitcher Alex Robinett cemented his name in the Academy and Patriot League record books with a sparkling performance of 21 strikeouts in an 8-0 victory over Air Force on Friday evening at Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field.

Robinett made the final start of his collegiate career count with an electric performance that included at least two strikeouts in every inning. He struck out the side in three different frames, including the ninth to cap the three-hit shutout. The final five outs of the night came via strikeout as Robinett shattered the previous Army West Point record of 17 punchouts in a game.

Steve Reich struck out 17 on two occasions in his career, accomplishing the feat in a seven-inning contest against Air Force in 1992 and again in 1993 against New York Tech in nine innings. Bob Kewley established the mark in 1960 against Yale before it was equaled by Eric Pedersen versus Princeton in 1968.

"I thought I was going to break my career record, which was 12, but I had no idea I was even near 21," Robinett said following the game. "We had never played Air Force in my four years here, so to set the tone like that it was pretty good. We have two games tomorrow and Sunday, so hopefully we can carry this momentum through the weekend."

Both Robinett and Air Force starter Griffin Jax looked sharp out of the gate with a pair of strikeouts in the first inning. Robinett equaled that effort in the second before Mark McCants started the home half of the inning by slicing a standup double down the left field line.

The next man up in the bottom of the second was Jacob Page, who reached with a seeing-eye single and took second on a passed ball with Ryan Levenhagen at the dish. A ground ball to second scored McCants, but a throwing error allowed Levenhagen to move up as Page motored around to make it 2-0. Another passed ball sent Levenhagen to third prior to a groundout by Johnny Griffith that scored a third Army West Point run. The Black Knights added a fourth tally when Jake Clark worked a walk and shortstop Jon Rosoff doubled him home as the home team went ahead 4-0.

Robinett gave up his first hit, a two-out single up the middle by Travis Wilke, but he recorded his sixth strikeout of the night to close the third inning with another zero.

The Army West Point right hander continued to cruise through the lineup with two more K's in the fourth prior to the offense adding to its advantage in the fourth. Three straight doubles to start the inning by Brock Davidson, Clark and Rosoff increased the lead to 6-0.

Robinett struck out the side in the fifth and again in the seventh to pull within one punchout of the record after Bradley Haslam went down swinging before stretch time.

"Robby was just doing his thing, he's been like that all season," catcher Ben Smith added. "I didn't really have to do a lot except just be there for him. He's got the internal motivation to do it himself and I was there to support him the whole way."

Following a groundout to start the eighth, Robinett fanned Tyler Zaboknik to tie the mark and ended the eighth by getting Tyler Salek swinging.

Wilke began the ninth with a swinging strikeout, before a backwards K was dealt to Adam Groesbeck, which was his third strikeout looking and fourth overall. Spencer Draws got the third Air Force hit with a single to the right side before Noah Pierce left the bat on his shoulder to end the record-setting effort by Robinett. His eighth complete game of the season increased his career total to 14 and advanced his 2015 record to 6-5. Robinett's 22nd career victory slots him sixth in Patriot League history.

"It was a great effort by the whole team," head coach Matt Reid stated. "Alex Robinett threw the ball extremely well and was electric tonight. I thought Jax threw the ball well too, we just made some hard contact and our guys offensively did a great job of having good quality at bats."

The lead was pushed to eight runs when the Black Knights hung two more runs in the bottom of the eighth. McCants, Rosoff and Page each finished the night with two hits, with Rosoff and Levenhagen driving in two runs apiece.

"I thought it was our best game of the year," Reid continued. "We put everything together, baserunning, pitching, situational hitting, and good defense. It was all there and now we have a game tomorrow and want to go out with the same effort."

The Black Knights and Falcons resume their series on Saturday afternoon. First pitch from Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field is set for 4 p.m.

Game Notes: Army West Point wore its black jerseys, white pants and white caps with gold brims ... the contest was the third ever night game at Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field (2-1) ... Harold Earls made his first start of the season in right field ... Brock Davidson started at designated hitter for the first time in 2015 ... Army West Point improved to 6-15 all-time against the Falcons and snapped a three-game losing streak in the series ... it was the Black Knights' first win over Air Force since Feb. 27, 1998 ... Jon Rosoff drove in multiple runs for the fifth time in 2015 ... Ryan Levehagen registered his second multi-RBI game of the year ... Mark McCants had at least two hits for the 15th time ... Jacob Page recorded two knocks for the 12th time ... Rosoff had multiple hits for the 11th time this season.