ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy baseball team (0-3) is back on the road this weekend to take on Air Force (2-2) at the Freedom Classic in Kinston, N.C. The Midshipmen and Falcons are set to face off in the Freedom Classic for the ninth-straight season at Grainger Stadium.
The three-game series begins on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by a 2 p.m. start on Saturday and a 12:30 p.m. start on Sunday.
Over the first eight meetings at the Freedom Classic, Navy and Air Force have played close throughout the 25 games of the Freedom Classic with Air Force holding a 13-12 lead in the series. Neither program has been able to sweep the weekend. Navy won the inaugural Freedom Classic in 2011 and then earned series victories in 2016 and 2018. Air Force won the series in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017. During a four-game set in 2013, the two teams won two games each.
In Navy's season-opening series, the Midshipmen dropped all three games of the weekend series against Gardner-Webb. In a tightly contested series, the Bulldogs outscored Navy 9-5 over the three games. The Midshipmen had a strong performance on the mound with a 2.84 ERA and allowed the Bulldogs to hit just .231.
Navy's starting rotation had a sub-2.00 ERA with a 1.53 ERA over 17-2/3 innings pitched.
Noah Song started his senior campaign with a 12-strikeout performance in 5-2/3 innings of work, where he shutout Gardner-Webb while on the mound to earn his fifth career Patriot League Pitcher of the Week honor. In a suspended game,
Jared Leins threw five innings before action was halted on Saturday night and
Charlie Connolly had a quality start with seven innings of one-run baseball in Navy's 1-0 loss to finish the series.
At the plate, the Midshipmen struggled and hit just .210 during the series and generated five runs.
Christian Hodge was the only player to hit over .300 with a 3-for-9 performance over the weekend.
Ryan Duffey led the way with four hits in three starts and
Jacob Williamson notched Navy's only long ball of the season during the weekend with his eighth career home run.
Air Force enters the weekend series with a 2-2 record after alternating losses and wins during their first weekend in Baton Rouge, La. The Falcons first lost a 17-2 game to rival service academy Army and then bounced back to shutout Louisiana Monroe, 1-0. Air Force then lost to No. 1 LSU 17-5 and the Falcons found their offensive groove this past Monday with a 13-0 win against Southern.
During the opening weekend, Air Force hit .230 as a team with Colby Brown pacing the offense with a .455 average. On the mound, despite posting a pair of shutouts, the Falcons finished the opening four games with an 8.23 ERA and allowed their opponents to hit .340. Matt Hargreaves and Nathan Price posted the two wins on the mound for Air Force. Hargreaves threw six innings in a start against Louisiana Monroe and Price pitched 3-2/3 innings out of the bullpen against Southern.
In the all-time series between the two service academies, the Falcons hold a slight 26-24 lead over 50 meetings. Air Force and Navy have never hosted each other in a game as all 50 contests have been played at neutral sites. Since head coach
Paul Kostacopoulos became head coach for the Midshipmen in 2006, Navy has a record of 19-15 over the Falcons.
First pitch of the weekend series is set for 6 p.m. on Friday night, followed by a 2 p.m. start on Saturday. The Freedom Classic finale is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon at Grainger Stadium in Kinston, N.C.
