Army Black Knights Senior Backs Up Hype With Patriot League Pitcher of the Week Nod

The Army West Point Black Knights senior pitcher entered the year with high expectations and those followed him through the first weekend as he was named the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week.

Dylan Sanders | Feb 18, 2025

Army's Coleson Titus (3) celebrates with Arm'y Andrew Berg (12) after scoring a run during a NCAA Athens Regional baseball game against Georgia in Athens, Ga., on Friday, May 31, 2024. Georgia won 8-7. / Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Army West Point Black Knights have started out the season behind the curve, but one player in particular is as good as ever.

Starting pitcher Justin Lehman started the season out as the consensus pick for Patriot League Pitcher of the Year. He backed that up by being named the conference's Pitcher of the Week for the opening slate of games.

Lehman pitched a six-inning gem against the North Alabama Lions to lead the Black Knights to a 6-1 win. It was the only game in the series that Army was able to take.

The senior got into a quick jam in the first inning, which started with the Lions loading the bases with no outs. They were only able to get one more run out of the situation before Lehman shut them down.

He ended up giving up four hits and two walks while striking out seven batters along the way. It was a rocky start, but he is already on pace to have an even better season than he did when he broke out a year ago.

They gave him a chance on the mound out of the bullpen as a sophomore, where he pitched 4.2 scoreless innings with six strikeouts.

That turned into a starting role a year later and the hype began to rise. Over 12 starts and 13 appearances, Lehman produced a 2.68 ERA with a 1.189 WHIP.

He has been hard to hit and kept the walks to a relative minimum, but he didn't strike very many batters out a year ago.

His outing against North Alabama has him at a 10.5 K/9, which is up from 6.0 in his last campaign.

Along with being a shutdown pitcher, Lehman also regularly bats as a designated hitter.

He went just 1-for-9 at the plate with a single and one RBI during their first series, but there are hopes that he will be able to produce at a higher rate this year.

There was already a noticeable jump from his sophomore campaign to his junior year.

Back in 2023, he had 91 plate appearances, which ended with a .247/.341/.286 slash line. He had no home runs and drove in seven batters.

In 2024, those numbers rose to 121 appearances with a .256/.419/.356 slash line and a single home run with 15 RBI.

Lehman rarely strikes out at the plate and is very good at getting on base. He has already drawn three walks in the first three games. If he can raise his slugging numbers, he'll be a very productive hitter.

The Black Knights will need him to produce at both parts of the field if they hope to make some noise in the Patriot League this season.

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