Final Stats

KINSTON, N.C. - The Navy baseball team (3-2) split a doubleheader versus Maryland Eastern Shore (1-4) on Saturday afternoon. Playing at Kinston High School, the Mids suffered an extra inning setback in the first game of the twinbill by a score of 3-0 before coming back in the second contest and winning 5-0.

"We had 13 hits and left 17 men on base and we can't find a way to score a run in the first game, so that's really, really frustrating especially when Luke pitches really well and so does Sam [Sorenson] out of the bullpen," remarked Kostacopoulos. "There was plenty there to win a ballgame and we left our opportunities on the table.

"In game two we again got tremendous pitching, this time out of Steve Moore. We managed to scratch across a few runs and get the win, but overall we weren't locked in offensively and it really made for a battle when he had a chance to win two games today. We're going to have to regroup offensively tomorrow and get a little more comfortable at the plate and score some runs."

Navy received stellar starting pitching in both outings as the duo of LHP Luke Gillingham (Jr., Coronado, Calif.) and RHP Stephen Moore (Sr., Roswell, Ga.) held the Hawks to just two combined hits in their 15 innings on the mound. Another total that illustrated the Mids dominance on the mound was 28-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In game one Gillingham kept up his standout start to 2015 with 14 strikeouts, while Moore followed him up with nine K's of his own in game two.

"Luke and Steve pitched really well today," said Kostacopoulos. "They located well and executed what they wanted to do with each hitter. They were really locked in and it was a plus day for both our pitchers. Those were two winning performances."

Offensively, the catching duo of Adrian Chinnery (So., Wilmington, Del.) and Jack Keller (Sr., Ballston Spa, N.Y.) kept swinging hot and productive bats. After leading the Mids in RBIs at North Carolina A&T last weekend, Chinnery went 6-for-9 with a double, triple and an RBI on Saturday. Keller, who caught game two, drove in three of Navy's five runs in the second contest.

"Adrian really hit the ball hard on the nose all day," said Kostacopoulos. "Jack came up with another big hit which is good to see. It's good to see those habits now from those two; we would just like to see that with more regularity from the rest of our order. If you keep getting guys on we'll eventually start hitting them in. Though again, Adrian and Jack really led the way today for us."

Retiring the first batter of game one via a fly out to center, Gillingham, the NCAA strikeout leader, quickly settled found his strikeout groove, as he struck out the next two hitters to close the first inning. He would continue his streak of striking out two batters an inning during the entire duration of his seven-inning outing.

With Gillingham silencing the UMES bats inning after inning, it was up to Navy's offense to piece together some runs in support of their southpaw starter. Unfortunately for the Mids every rally in game one was short-circuited by either a strong defensive play by a Hawk player or a costly strikeout. In total, Navy left 17 men on base, including three in each of the fifth, seventh and eighth innings.

In a game that was only scheduled for seven innings, Gillingham took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before UMES' DH Troy Anderson squibbed a weak ground ball perfectly through the middle of the infield. Anderson's base hit would be the only one given up by Gillingham during his outing. Up to 99 pitches, the lefty would exit the game with a final line of seven innings pitched, one hit allowed, one walk and 14 strikeouts.

In 14 innings so far in 2015, Gillingham has struck out 30 batters and allowed just two hits and one walk.

UMES finally broke the scoreless tie in the top of the tenth inning when Jamison Trower plated two Hawk teammates with a double down the left field line. The UMES first baseman would later come into score to make it a 3-0 game. Navy attempted to come back in the bottom of the frame, but a single by Travis Blue (So., Orange, Calif.) and a walk drawn by Robert Currie (Jr., Atlanta, Ga.) would go for naught as the Hawks turned a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.

For the game, Navy outhit UMES, 13-4 and had nine different players reach base. Chinnery led the way with three hits, while a trio of teammates, Brad Borosak (Sr., Jupiter, Fla.), Sean Trent (Jr., Sorrento, Fla.) and Blue all registered two hits.

Sam Sorenson (Jr., Etters, Pa.) was saddled with the loss as he threw 3.0 innings of three-hit relief with three runs allowed (two earned) and three strikeouts.

In game two, pitching continued to be the story as Stephen Moore struck out four of the first nine batters he faced over the opening three innings. With Moore locked in, Navy finally found the formula to manufacture some runs versus UMES pitching in the bottom of the third inning. Back-to-back-to-back singles by Currie, Blue and Trent loaded the bases to start the inning. Chinnery, the Mids' fifth hitter, began plating runs when he took a Jordan Bone offering into right field to score Blue and give Navy a 1-0 lead. The next hitter, Keller, placed a hard hit single up the middle of the diamond to score two more Mids and make it 3-0. Borosak drove in Navy's final run of the frame when he beat out a potential UMES double play at first play. Reaching first via a fielder's choice, Borosak increased the Mids' lead to 4-0.

This margin would be more than enough for Moore as he held UMES hitless until the second batter of the sixth inning. Between Gillingham and Moore, Navy's hurlers kept UMES out of the hit column until the sixth in both games. Joshua James, the Hawks' first batter with a base hit was quickly eliminated during the next at bat with a strike'em-out throw'em-out combination from Moore and Keller. Grayson Trower struck out and James was thrown out attempting to steal second base.

Navy's final run of the game came in the bottom of the seven when Trent led off with a walk and eventually came in on a fielder's choice off the bat of Keller.

With the score 5-0, Moore completed his outing in the eighth inning with a three-up, three-down frame. A strikeout of Jamison Trower ended his day and the inning. The senior righty's line for the game was eight innings, one hit allowed, one walk and nine strikeouts. Moore's strikeout total is the second highest of his career, following only a 10-strikeout outing versus Monmouth on March 8 of 2014.

Kyle Condry (So., Highland Village, Texas) closed out the game for Navy in the ninth with two more strikeouts for the pitching staff. On the day, Midshipmen pitchers struck out 28 Hawk hitters.

For the second game of the day, Navy outhit UMES, 8-1 and had eight different batters reach safely. With another three-hit outing Chinnery was the Mids' leading hitter.

Navy and UMES will attempt to complete its three-game series on Sunday at Kinston High School. The first pitch of game three is tentatively scheduled for 12 p.m. With inclement weather possibly hitting the Kinston area this evening, the teams remain semi-flexible in terms of a first pitch on Sunday.

The series this weekend is being hosted at Kinston High School after winter weather cancelled both programs' previously scheduled series at Norfolk State for Navy and VMI for UMES. The series came together on Thursday and both teams made it into Kinston on Friday night.

"The people of Kinston and Bill Ellis who helped make today and this weekend possible are just wonderful," remarked Kostacopoulos. "They've bent over backwards for us. Just having the opportunity to play today was a plus and it really benefits us. We really owe them a huge thanks."