Baseball Swept at Holy Cross on Saturday - Naval Academy Athletics (2024)

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Navy baseball team (20-15, 10-7 PL) suffered a doubleheader sweep to Holy Cross (17-19, 8-5 PL) on Saturday afternoon, falling in the opener, 7-1, before dropping a 15-5 run-ruled contest to close the day at Fitton Field in Worcester, Mass.

Game One Recap
Holy Cross scratched across the first run of the opener in the second inning, as Jimmy King singled and stole second before moving up to third on a flyball and scoring on a Navy error.

The Crusaders added on in the third, as singles from Braden Connors and Gianni Royer were followed by Brendan Jones' two-run triple into right-center, while a King sacrifice fly scored Jones to make it 4-0. Another three-spot in the fourth inning from Holy Cross saw a pair of two-out walks come in on Connors' three-run blast over the centerfield fence, raising the lead to 7-0.

Navy finally broke through with two outs in the seventh when sophom*ore Victor Izquierdo walked and then came all the way home on senior Eduardo Diaz's double into right field, but Alex Bryant then got a strikeout to end the threat and pick up the complete-game victory.

Sophom*ore starter Tyler Grenn suffered his first loss of league play after lasting four innings, allowing six earned runs on six hits, while classmate Jackson Beattie held the Crusaders to one hit in his two frames of relief.

For Bryant, he held Navy to just the one run on four hits while posting nine strikeouts in his seven frames.

Game Two Recap
After threatening in the first inning, Holy Cross opened the scoring in the second inning, as Alex Sandell's leadoff triple preceded John LaFleur's two-run homer while a Jones walk was followed by King's own two-run shot to right. Continuing the crooked inning, Chris Baillargeon's double scored another run before Sandell's sacrifice fly plated Baillargeon to make it 6-0 Crusaders.

Baillargeon drove in the Crusaders' seventh run in the third inning with a sacrifice fly, but Navy answered back in the top of the fourth when sophom*ore Brock Murtha walked to start the frame and used two groundouts to advance to third base, crossing home on Izquierdo's single.

The Mids scored again in the fifth as Diaz's hit-by-pitch started a little two-out rally, with Murtha's single moving Diaz to third and senior Logan Keller singling him in two pitches later, but Danny Macchiarola worked out of the jam after walking the bases loaded by inducing a lineout to limit the damage.

Holy Cross responded by putting up two more runs in the bottom of the fifth on a Brown double and Jack Toomey's sacrifice fly, extending its lead to 9-2, while doubles from Sandell and Jones brought home a run each in the sixth to make it 11-2.

Navy struck back in the seventh as a Diaz walk and Murtha single kickstarted a frame that saw Keller drive in Diaz on a grounder and Manning hit a two-run homer to cut the score to 11-5, but Baillargeon's solo shot in the bottom of the seventh inning started a four-run frame that helped the Crusaders run-rule the Mids, 15-5, as a wild pitch allowed LaFleur to come home for the final run.

Freshman righty Brady Bendik went two innings in the start for Navy, giving up six runs in the loss, while fellow rookies Timmy Virtudes and Owen Geiger followed for 3.1 innings and one inning, respectively, and freshman Aidan Healy recorded one out before the game ended.

Macchiarola lasted five innings and allowed two runs on five hits to earn the win, and Dan Mateffy gave up three runs while pitching the final two frames for the Crusaders.

Game Notes
• Navy fell to 90-54 in the all-time series with Holy Cross, as Saturday's losses snapped the Mids' nine-game winning streak over the Crusaders.
• Izquierdo extended his on-base streak to 11 games.
• Virtudes' 3.1 innings marked a career high for the lefty.

Up Next
Navy and Holy Cross finish the series on Sunday, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.