SHELBY, N.C. – After a pitcher's duel broke out to start the season, Navy baseball (0-1) used a late rally to force extra innings, but Gardner-Webb (1-0) scored twice in the 10th inning to earn a 3-2 walk-off victory over the Midshipmen on Saturday at Keeter Stadium.
 
Navy was held to just one hit over the first seven innings, but the offense came alive late with eight hits over the final three frames and outhit the Bulldogs, 8-7. The Midshipmen had eight different players record a hit, while Liam Lowery (Sr., Williamsburg, Va.) went 1-for-4 at the plate and drove in both Navy runs without the ball leaving the infield. 
 
Noah Song (Sr., Claremont, Calif.) finished the game with 12 strikeouts in 5-2/3 innings, where he allowed just three hits, no runs and walked four batters.
 
"It was a great game right out the gate," head coach Paul Kostacopoulos said after the contest. "The game was very well played by both teams. I think both pitching staffs walked a couple more guys than they would have liked, but overall it was a good game. Noah [Song] pitched really well and had a lot of secondary pitches working well, but had a couple uncontested walks. Jack [Ferguson] also pitched well out of the bullpen in some pretty tough spots.
 
"It was a back-and-forth game and we saw a lot of different situations that we will be in throughout the season, which was nice to see right out of the gate. The competitiveness was great moving into the start of the season after coming off practice situations."
 
Opening Day started in a pitcher's duel from the get-go with the two teams combining for four hits through the first six innings. Navy only mustered up one hit through the first seven frames. Zach Biggers (So., Walhalla, S.C.) delivered his only hit of the contest in the first inning with two outs, but the Midshipmen were unable to put together a two-out rally after Lowery reached on a walk, however, Lowery and Biggers were left stranded. 
 
Over the next six innings, the Midshipmen had 18 of 20 batters retired. On the other side, Gardner-Webb recorded one hit in the second inning and two hits in the third as the game remained scoreless heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. 
 
The Bulldogs broke the scoreless affair with a two-out solo home run from Chandler Redmond in the seventh inning to grab a 1-0 lead. 
 
Navy's bats started to come alive in the eighth inning with back-to-back hits from Joe Simourian (Fr., Andover, Mass.) and Ryan Duffey (So., Duxbury, Mass.). However, the Midshipmen left both runners on base to end the frame.
 
With its backs against the wall, Navy rallied in the top half of the ninth inning to tie up the score. Christian Hodge (Sr., Winder, Ga.) started the inning with a single and after a sacrifice bunt, Jacob Williamson (Jr., Sims, N.C.) singled out to left field to place runners at first and third. Lowery delivered the game-tying RBI with an infield single and the Midshipmen looked to take the lead but left the bases loaded to end the top of the ninth inning with the score knotted at one run apiece. 
 
After Trent Topping (Fr., Temecula, Calif.) worked a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth inning in his collegiate debut, Navy grabbed a run in the 10th inning to take its first lead of the game. With two runners on base and two outs, Williamson worked a two-out walk to load the bases for the Midshipmen and Lowery earned his second RBI of the night with a bases-loaded walk to put Navy ahead, 2-1. Still with the bases loaded, Matthew Wilcox (Sr., Los Gatos, Calif.) was unable to extend the lead as the Midshipmen held a one-run lead moving into the home half of the 10th inning. 
 
Gardner-Webb found its rhythm late in the game to post back-to-back RBI singles with one out in the 10th inning to escape with a 3-2 walk-off win. Mitch McLendon – who was the only player in the game with multiple hits – notched the walk-off single out right field to seal the win for the Bulldogs.
 
Out of the bullpen for Navy, Jack Ferguson (So., Atlanta, Ga.) recorded seven outs for Navy allowing just one hit and a run. Topping (0-1) suffered the loss in his first collegiate outing. He pitched 1-1/3 innings allowing two hits and two runs. Sante Grossi (So., Riverside, Calif.) surrendered the one hit to his only batter faced to close out the game.
 
Aaron Stewart (1-0) was credited with the win after notching the final two outs allowing two walks. Isaac Campbell started for Gardner-Webb and threw seven innings of one-hit ball while striking out three and walking three.
 
Navy and Gardner-Webb are back in action on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. for game two of the series from Keeter Stadium in Shelby, N.C.