May 16, 2015 Final Stats
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The top-seeded Navy baseball team dropped the first game of the Patriot League best-of-three championship series on Saturday to the second seed Lehigh. In a day that was regularly scheduled for a doubleheader, the Mids (36-19) and Mountain Hawks (24-26) were only able to complete game one before Mother Nature decided that game two would be best decided on Sunday. After falling in game one, 7-3, the teams left Max Bishop Stadium with game two tied 8-8 in the bottom of the 10th inning due to a weather suspension. Game two will resume on Sunday beginning at 12 p.m.
"We have our backs up against the wall with this continuation game, but we've battled like heck all day," said head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "We've gone back-and-forth all day, especially in the second game. Come tomorrow, we just have to get out of a jam and extend this into the third game."
"I see intensity in every one of our players. Our batters are locked in and looking to barrel up the ball. Certainly so far in the second game we've done that with 15 hits. We've done a good job on offense today."
In a day heavy on offense, Travis Blue (Orange, Calif.) led Navy's attack as the sophomore shortstop hit .500 (3-6) with a triple. Ben McGrath (Fr., Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) also swung a strong bat on Saturday in the 19 innings of action as he had three singles and a double. Brad Borosak (Sr., Jupiter, Fla.) led the team with three RBIs. In total, eight Midshipmen had two or more hits on the day.
Game one began in Navy's favor as the hosts jumped out to an early 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning off of Lehigh starter Kevin Long. Robert Currie (Jr., Atlanta, Ga.) converted a leadoff walk into a run as he moved around the bases, station-to-station, before Stephen Born (Fr., Strafford, Pa.) singled him home with an RBI through the left side of the infield. A well-turned 4-6-3 double play by the Mountain Hawks ended the inning and averted any further run scoring by the Mids.
Navy's starting pitcher Stephen Moore (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) was in command early as he retired nine of the first 10 batters that he faced over the first three innings. His strong pitching helped the Mids hold onto their 1-0 lead into the fourth. In that inning, the Mountain Hawks plated two runs on two singles and a double by John Elson.
After a shaky beginning to his start Long settled in for a period of time between the second and sixth and held Navy off the scoreboard. The game stayed at a 2-1 score until the top of the seventh when All-Patriot League First-Team shortstop Mike Garzillo connected for a grand slam off of Moore. That long ball made it a 6-1 game in favor of Lehigh.
Down, but not out, the Midshipmen came right back in the bottom of the seventh with two runs scored. Back-to-back singles by Adrian Chinnery (So., Wilmington, Del.) and McGrath put the wheels in motion before Borosak plated both with a single to left field.
With the score 6-3, Lehigh netted an insurance run in the ninth inning to have the game for final with a 7-3 result. For the game, the Mountain Hawks outhit the Mids, 10-8. McGrath was the only Navy batter with multiple hits as the freshman first baseman went 3-for-4 at the plate.
Moore was saddled with the loss as he threw 7.0 innings and allowed six runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks. The senior righty struck out four Lehigh batters.
In game two before play was suspended due to lightning and rain, offense ruled the three-plus hours of action as the two teams combined for 16 runs on 27 hits.
Lehigh took a quick 3-0 lead in the first inning before Navy shot back with a single run in the third inning to tighten the score. Logan Knowles (Fr., Port Orchard, Wash.) scored the Mids' first run on a single by Currie.
The second-seeded Mountain Hawks continued to hold onto the lead throughout the middle innings of the game as they added a single run in the fifth to go up 4-1. Navy had a rebuttal for Lehigh's run with two of its own in the next frame. In the sixth, Born and Connor Deneen (Jr., Tustin, Calif.) went back-to-back with triples before Chinnery earned an RBI on a ground out to shortstop.
With the score now 4-3, the floodgates on the field opened offensively in the seventh. The hard-charging Mids took their first lead of the game on the strength of a four-run frame. Singles by Blue and Currie translated into runs with one swing of the bat by Sean Trent (Jr., Sorrento, Fla.), who doubled in the duo. Trent and later Deneen would come into score to make it a 7-4 game.
"One thing that I have really been proud of is how our team has just kept going," said Kostacopoulos. There has been no let up and I think we just keep going and eventually we'll break through. It's not like all of a sudden the guys are better hitters. The team just keeps grinding."
The designated "home" team in the game, Lehigh came back in the bottom of the seven with a trio of runs. In a game of inches, a slightly inside pitch nicked Connor Faust for a bases loaded hit by pitch before a Tim McKay weakly flared single just missed the out-stretched arms of Borosak in shallow right field. The final Mountain Hawk run came on a fielder's choice by James Bleming, who was able to beat out a potential double play.
The back-and-forth action continued into the eighth where Navy jumped back into the lead on a walk to Knowles and RBI single by Borosak. The 8-7 lead didn't last for long as Lehigh used another long ball by Garzillo, his third of the day, to tie it up.
The Mids' second reliever of the game, Jett Meenach (So., Flower Mound, Texas) settled down after that home run by Garzillo and the sidearmer was able to tip-toe his way around a two-on, one-out situation in the bottom of the ninth. Meenach struck out Bleming swinging for out number two before forcing the Mountain Hawks' ever-dangerous leadoff hitter Justin Pacchioli into a fielder's choice.
Navy threatened in the top of the 10th inning as Blue roped a triple into the right-center field gap with one out, but Lehigh's pitcher J.R. Edwards was able to retire the next two batters on ground outs to silence the threat.
With ominous skies moving ever closer in the bottom of the 10th, Jacen Nalesnik led off with a double down the right field line before a strike of lightning flashed beyond left field in the skies above Hospital Point.
After waiting for over 40 minutes and with the weather worsening the decision to suspend play was made a little after 7:00 p.m.
The action is scheduled to resume on Sunday beginning at 12 p.m. The Mountain Hawks will be at the plate with Garzillo and Nalesnik at second base. If the Midshipmen hope to extend their season and force a winner-take-all game three, they will need to win the 12 p.m. resumption. Game three would begin 30 minutes after the completion of game two should Navy come out on top.
