Box Score April 17, 2016 Box Score-G1 | Box Score-G2
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy baseball team secured a 3-1 series win over Lehigh on Sunday afternoon at Max Bishop Stadium with a pair of dominant victories. The Mids (29-10-1, 8-4 PL) used a stellar one-hit performance from Noah Song (Fr., Claremont, Calif.) in game one to earn a 3-0 victory before coming back in the second game and breaking out the bats to the tune of 11 hits and 10 runs in a 10-3 victory over the Mountain Hawks (14-24, 3-9 PL).
"Noah Song really set the tone in the first game with a complete game, one-hitter," remarked head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "We were able to battle and scrap out a few runs to support him, but it was tough because their pitcher [Kevin] Long had a good arm. That was a Patriot League seven-inning battle.
"In the second game, we put enough together offensively to get out in front and we continued adding runs. We got a competitive start out of Kyle [Condry] and then our bullpen with Andrew [Bartek] and Sam [Sorenson] did a really solid job to close it out."
Song led a trio of strong outings on the mound by Navy hurlers as the freshman right-hander allowed just a leadoff single to Jacen Nalesnik on the first pitch of the game in an 89-pitch, complete game shutout; his second one-hit shutout over his last three starts. He closed his stat line with two walks and four strikeouts of Lehigh batters. In the second contest, the bullpen duo of Andrew Bartek (Sr., Jefferson, Ga.) and Sam Sorenson (Sr., Etters, Pa.) shut out the Mountain Hawks with five scoreless innings in relief. Bartek went 2.0 innings with three strikeouts before Sorenson earned the three-inning save with four punch outs over the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.
At the plate, the Mids got just enough offense in the first game as Robert Currie (Sr., Atlanta, Ga.) led the team with two hits and scored two runs. Game two was a completely different story as Navy got production from throughout its lineup. The six, seven and eight hitters, Leland Saile (Jr., Land O'Lakes, Fla.), Connor Deneen (Sr., Tustin, Calif.) and Matthew Wilcox (Fr., Los Gatos, Calif.) scored eight runs together as Logan Knowles (So., Port Orchard, Wash.) and Currie were the biggest benefactors with seven combined RBIs. For the doubleheader, Currie, Deneen and Adrian Chinnery (Jr., Wilmington, Del.) all posted team-highs with three base hits.
"Though Logan and Robert got the RBIs, that means that the players in front of them in the batting order were doing their jobs and getting on," reflected Kostacopoulos. "The six [Saile], seven [Deneen] and eight [Wilcox] spots in our order really got us going and Logan and Robert made them pay.
"Robert was the straw that stirred the drink today for us. He got on base a lot, got the RBI production that we needed and was making things happen on the base paths. That was great to see out of him because we needed a guy to step up after an up-and-down day on Saturday."
Game one got off to a fast start for the visiting Lehigh squad as Jacen Nalesnik took the first pitch of the game right up the middle past Navy's starter, Noah Song. After that initial hiccup it was all Song all day long dominating the Mountain Hawks. Through the first three innings, Song faced just 10 batters with a three strikeouts and three more foul fly outs.
With Song seemingly in control, Navy's offense was able to slowly manufacture runs in the first and third innings off of Lehigh's starter, Kevin Long. In the first, Currie turned a leadoff double into a run after advancing to third base on a wild pitch and then scoring in a blown rundown as the Mountain Hawks' catcher, Jeff Shanfeldt threw the ball wide of his prospective recipient. In the third inning, the Mids' did all the heavy lifting of plating a run as Currie once again was the catalyst. After a one-out, single up the middle and a stolen base, the senior centerfielder came in to score on a double down the right field line by Chinnery.
With the score 2-0 in favor of Navy after three innings, Lehigh tried to mount minute comebacks in the fourth and fifth frames courtesy of walks to Mike Garzillo and Connor Donovan, respectively. Song and his defense were having none of that thinking and quickly got the next two outs after the Garzillo walk in the fourth and eliminated Donovan on a caught stealing in the fifth.
Navy's third and final run was scored in the bottom of the fourth when Deneen roped a one-out triple over the left fielder's head for his sixth three-base hit of the season. One year after finishing third in the NCAA with eight total triples, he's back in the top-10 again nationally this spring. The senior right fielder came in during the next at bat on a passed ball.
Up 3-0, Song closed out his one-hit shutout with consecutive three-up, three-down frames in the sixth and seventh innings.
For the game, Navy outhit Lehigh, 4-1.
Over his first seven career collegiate starts, Song has now recorded three complete game shutouts and been a part of a fourth. He is tied for the national lead with teammate Luke Gillingham (Sr., Coronado, Calif.) in that exclusive category. As a pitching staff, Navy has hurled a nation's best nine shutouts through 40 games.
After a crisp 1:24 first game to start the day, game two took a completely different path. From the beginning of the contest through its conclusion, Navy and Lehigh combined to have runners on base in 16 of the 18 half-innings. Bartek turned in the Mids' only one-two-three inning in the top of the fifth, while the Mountain Hawks' reliever, Brandon Kulp finally put the Mids down in order in the bottom of the eighth.
The offense was flowing freely over the first three innings as Navy jumped out to an 8-2 lead one-third of the way through the game. The Mids were first on the scoreboard as the hosts eked out a run when Travis Blue (Jr., Orange, Calif.) singled, stole second base (after surviving a pickoff and rundown) and scored on an RBI single by Chinnery.
After Lehigh scored twice in the top of the second to swing the lead in its favor, 2-1, Navy responded with three runs in the bottom half of the frame. A catcher's interference call started the rally as the Mountain Hawks' Ryan Bonshak had his catching glove make contact with Leland Saile's swing. Once on first base, Saile went station-to-station on a single by Deneen, a walk to Wilcox and an RBI groundout by Knowles. Deneen and Wilcox later came into score on a single up the middle by Currie.
The Mids' kept their foot on the proverbial gas pedal in the third inning when five straight batters reached with one out. Saile really got things accelerated with a triple to the left-center field gap to score Trent. Deneen tallied Navy's second RBI of the inning on a single to center to plate Saile. Both Deneen and Wilcox, who reached via a walk, later scored on a two-RBI single by Knowles. The Mids left the inning up 8-2.
A solo home run by Nalesnik in the top of the fourth inning marked Lehigh's final run of the game.
With the score 8-3, Kyle Condry's (Highland Village, Texas) start for the Mids was final after four labor-intensive innings and 91 total pitches. The junior right-hander from Texas finished with a stat line of 4.0 innings, five hits, three runs (one earned), two walks and six strikeouts.
Fresh off the first three-up, three-down frame of the game in the top of the fifth courtesy of its newly-inserted reliever Andrew Bartek, Navy responded with its final two runs of the game in the bottom of the inning. Once again, an extra-base hit by Saile was the precursor for runs scoring as the first baseman led off with double to left field. He later scored his third run of the game on a single by Knowles. That RBI by Knowles was his fourth of the game, a new career-high. Deneen scored the Mids' 10th run as he scampered in from third base on a sacrifice fly to center by Currie.
Both teams' bullpen held the game at seven-run margin of 10-3 over the final four innings. Bartek and Sorenson kept Lehigh off the scoreboard with six combined strikeouts during the sixth through nine innings.
In the 10-3 victory, Navy outhit Lehigh, 11-10. Chinnery, Deneen and Saile all had two hits to lead the Mids. In total, seven different players collected base hits in game two.
For his two innings of scoreless middle relief, Bartek was awarded the win to improve to 5-2 on the year, while Sorenson notched his fifth save over 15 appearances with a line of 3.0 innings, two hits, one walk and four strikeouts.
During the four-game series, that Navy took three games to one, the host Midshipmen outhit the Mountain Hawks, .257 to .216 and outscored their opposition, 18-12. Chinnery (.545, 6-11), Deneen (.400, 4-10, 6 R) and Knowles (.364, 4-11, 5 RBI) led Navy in the team's top-three offensive categories; batting average, runs scored and RBIs.
On the mound, Navy's pitchers posted a 1.97 ERA versus a 4.34 mark for Lehigh. Complete game shutouts by Song and Gillingham led the way amongst starters, while scoreless relief appearances by Sorenson, Bartek and Jackson Zoch (Fr., San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) highlighted the bullpen's effort during the series. Over 32.0 innings, the Mids posted a 35:12 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
"Whenever you can win a series in the Patriot League its going to be a pretty solid weekend," said Kostacopoulos. "We have to continue working hard during the week and moving forward. We have to be ready for the next series."
Navy will host UMBC on Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in a non-conference matchup before turning its attention to service academy and Patriot League rival, Army West Point next weekend. The Mids and Black Knights will face off at Max Bishop Stadium for a four-game set beginning on Saturday at 12 p.m.
