Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy baseball team earned a doubleheader split with Princeton on Saturday afternoon at Max Bishop Stadium. In their final weekend tune-up before Patriot League play begins next Saturday versus Bucknell, the Mids (15-7) fell in game one by a 4-3 score before coming back in game two and winning 4-2 over the Tigers (2-12). Both teams recorded strong offensive lines in terms of base hits and batting average, but it was gusty pitching and solid defense that kept the final scores of both games low.

Offensively, Navy hit .310 during the doubleheader with 18 hits, five of which went for extra-bases. Sean Trent (Jr., Sorrento, Fla.) led the Mids' charge with a 5-for-7 showing at the plate with three doubles and two RBIs. The rest of Navy's potent 9-1-2-3 portion of its lineup went 9-for-20 as Robert Currie (Jr., Atlanta, Ga.) had four hits, two runs and a triple, while Brad Borosak (Sr., Jupiter, Fla.) had three hits, two runs scored and a team-high three RBIs. Travis Blue (So., Orange, Calif.), the Mid's nine-hole hitter, had a single, double and a hit by pitch over seven plate appearances on Saturday.

On the mound, Navy received quality starts by both game one starter Luke Gillingham (Jr., Coronado, Calif.) and game two starter George Coughlin (So., Arvada, Colo.) as in each contest they went at least six innings and allowed three or less earned runs. In the first game, Gillingham struggled getting help from his secondary pitches, but gave Navy a chance to win in the setback. In the second contest, Coughlin danced in and out of trouble over his six innings on the mound to the tune of nine hits against, but only one run allowed.

"Those were two great college games," said head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "They went back-and -forth and were well contested by both teams throughout. It ended up being a split which was probably a fair result for the day."

"Both teams had opportunities throughout both games, but especially in game two. There were 25 combined hits in game two. George did a great job of stranding runners and leaving guys in scoring position. I thought we made a few critical plays in the second game that helped lead to our result. Ben Lowe turned a big double play in the first inning and Connor Deneen threw out the runner trying to score in the eighth inning; that could've been a big inning without that out. We made some really good plays and got good competitive pitching today."

In game one, the early action went by quickly as Gillingham retired the Tigers six-up, six-down over the first two innings, including three strikeouts in the top of the first. His counterpart from Princeton, Chad Powers didn't allow a base hit the first time through the lineup.

In the top of the third inning, the Tigers pieced together their first run of the game as they took advantage of a Midshipmen error on a ground ball off the bat of Tyler Servais. Three batters after reaching first base, Servais scored on a ground out by the leadoff hitter Billy Arendt.

Down 1-0, Navy responded in the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff triple by Currie into the right field corner and a subsequent sacrifice fly by Borosak in the next at bat.

The back-and-forth nature of the game continued into the fifth inning as Princeton tied together three consecutive singles to go ahead 2-1.

Just like the Tigers' first run of the game, this score was quickly countered by the Mids as the host squad tied the contest up at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth when Logan Knowles (Fr., Port Orchard, Wash.) plated Ben Lowe (Fr., Memphis, Tenn.) with a single to left field.

Navy kept swinging a hot bat into the sixth inning as it took the lead by a slim 3-2 margin. In this frame, Borosak led off with a single through the right side before coming in courtesy of a Trent double to left field. Princeton escaped further damage later as it turned an inning-ending double play.

Down by a run and only having three outs left in regulation, the Tigers came back to tie the game for the third time with back-to-back extra-base hits, a leadoff double by Servais and a triple by Danny Baer. Two batters later, Baer came in to score the go-ahead run on an Arendt sacrifice fly to right field.

The Mids' rally in the bottom of the seventh came up short and the game would go final by a score of 4-3 in favor of the Tigers.

In the game, Princeton outhit Navy, 8-6. Currie and Trent both recorded two hits for the Mids in the losing effort.

Gillingham took the lost as he went 6.0 innings with seven hits and four runs (three earned). The nation's strikeout leader tallied six punch outs on the day to give him 71 on the year. Jett Meenach (So., Flower Mound, Texas) hurled a scoreless inning of relief in the seventh.

In the second game of the day, the Tigers tried to jump on the Mids early as Arendt led off with a triple into the left-center field gap off of Coughlin. After a ground ball to Knowles at third base kept Arendt anchored to third base, Navy pulled a slick 3-2 GDP as Lowe snagged a ground ball at first base, stepped on the bag and fired to Adrian Chinnery (So., Wilmington, Del.), who slapped a tag on Arendt at home for the third out of the inning.

Princeton challenged to get on the scoreboard again in the second inning as the Tigers opened with back-to-back singles. Coughlin quickly re-grouped and struck out two straight before forcing Blake Thomsen into a foul pop out to Chinnery behind home plate.

The Tigers tried the same formula again in the fourth as their first two hitters reached via singles and again Coughlin bent, but didn't break. The sophomore hurler put down the next three batters as he forced another foul pop, struck out Paul Tupper and got Servais to fly out to Borosak at second base.

After leaving four men on base over the first four innings, Navy finally broke through in the fifth inning with three runs scored. With one out, the Mids recorded four consecutive hits by Blue, Currie, Borosak and Trent. Blue came in to score on a single by Borosak before Trent drove in Currie. Navy's third run came in courtesy of a wild pitch by Princeton's Tyler Foote.

With the score 3-0, the Tigers cut into the lead with a single run in the top of the sixth.

Navy notched its final run in the seventh inning as Currie led off with an infield bunt single and advanced to third on a two-base throwing error. The next batter, Borosak singled through the left side of the infield to score Patrick Brady (So., Charlotte, N.C.), who entered as a pinch runner.

A run by Princeton in the eighth inning closed the scoring at 4-2, though further damage was averted as Connor Deneen (Jr., Tustin, Calif.) threw out Nick Hernandez at home from his right field position.

Meenach came on in relief again for Navy as he closed out the ninth inning for his first collegiate save as he retired Princeton three-up, three-down on just six pitches.

In the game, the Tigers outhit the Mids by a count of 13-12. Trent led Navy's effort with three hits, while Currie, Borosak and Blue all recorded two.

"They just keep doing their job and grinding away," said Kostacopoulos about the quartet of Blue, Currie, Borosak and Trent. "Hopefully we can get a few other guys rolling to lengthen our lineup, but they all keep doing their job and manufacturing runs."

Coughlin earned the victory with a final line of 6.0 innings pitched with nine hits and one run allowed, while striking out six. He was followed out of the bullpen by Andrew Bartek (Jr., Jefferson, Ga.) and Meenach.

On the day, Navy's staff combined for a 15:0 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 16.0 innings pitched.

"Getting zero walks from our pitchers over 16 innings was big today," said Kostacopoulos. "That's something that we always harp on, attacking the zone and throwing strikes. We are going to give up some hits and we are going to make some miscues on the field; we just can't add to it with walks. Our pitchers did a great job today of really working in the strike zone and making Princeton hit."

The Mids and Tigers finish out their four-game series on Sunday with another doubleheader. The first pitch of game one is scheduled for 12 p.m. at Max Bishop Stadium.