KINSTON, N.C. – Navy baseball (1-5) lost the final two games of the Freedom Classic to service academy rival Air Force (4-3) on Sunday afternoon, 6-4 and 7-2, at Grainger Stadium in Kinston, N.C.
 
The Midshipmen compiled seven hits in each game and hit .222 during the doubleheader. Christian Hodge (Sr., Winder, Ga.) led Navy with three hits on the day in his eight at-bats and Evan Lowery (Jr., Williamsburg, Va.) had two RBIs to close out the series.
 
"The first game was a well-played game," head coach Paul Kostacopoulos said after the doubleheader. "Air Force had a three-run homer, two-run homer and a solo home run for all six of their runs. It was that kind of day with the wind blowing out and to their credit, they got it done in that spot. I thought it was a very well-played game on both ends with it being a competitive game.
 
"In the second game, their pitcher [Ethan Nichols] was on and they had the four-run inning and that set the tone. Defensively, both teams played well and I thought we did a good job of taking hits away. Our offense is struggling right now. You are going to get that at some points in the season, sometimes it is early, sometimes it is in the middle and sometimes it is late. We are just going to have to find a way to work out of it."
 
Air Force 6, Navy 4
 
In a seven-inning affair to start the day, Air Force took advantage of the wind blowing out to centerfield as all six of its runs came from home runs. Following a scoreless first inning, the Falcons jumped ahead early with a solo home run in the top of the second inning.
 
Navy answered right back in the home half of the inning with two runs on a pair of hits. With one out and two runners on base, Liam Lowery (Sr., Williamsburg, Va.) singled up the middle to score Evan Lowery and then as Matt Wolff (Fr., Fishers, Ind.) drew a walk, Zach Stevens (Fr., Lexington, Mass.) came into score on a wild pitch. With a 2-1 lead, the Midshipmen were unable to increase their lead and left a pair of runners stranded. 
 
The back-and-forth affair continued with Drew Wiss hitting a three-run home run to put Air Force back on top, 4-2, in the third inning. Jacob Williamson (Jr., Sims, N.C.) hit his second home run of the season with a shot out to left-center field to pull Navy back within a run. The Midshipmen tied the game at four with Hodge coming around to score on an Evan Lowery double to left-center field to wrap up the third inning.
 
After the scoring settled down for the fourth and fifth innings, Air Force regained a two-run lead with Gabriel Garcia hitting a pinch-hit, two-run home run to put the Falcons ahead, 6-4. 
 
Over the final two frames, Navy tried to rally but only notched a two-out hit in each stanza to drop the first game of the doubleheader, 6-4.
 
Jared Leins (So., Raleigh, N.C) got the start and went three innings allowing four runs on sixth hits. Trent Topping (Fr., Temecula, Calif.) dropped to 0-2 on the year after allowing a run on two hits in 2-1/3 innings.
 
Jake Gilbert (1-0) earned the win for Air Force going 4-1/3 innings out of the bullpen allowing two hits and striking out five batters. In his 2-2/3-inning start, Matt Hargreaves allowed four runs – two earned – on five hits while striking out five.
 
Air Force 7, Navy 2
 
During the second half of the doubleheader, the bats started quietly with two-and-half scoreless frames out of the gate. The Falcons jumped ahead first once again after plating a run in the bottom of the third inning. A two-out RBI single put the Falcons ahead after three innings.
 
Air Force started to break the game open with a four-run fourth inning. The Falcons used three hits in the inning with a double and a home run to push their lead to 5-0. For its third-straight inning, Air Force was able to put runs the board with two more runs in the fifth inning as it ran its lead to 7-0.
 
Following six scoreless innings, Navy got on the board in the seventh inning. Wolff delivered an RBI double to score Ryan Duffey (So., Duxbury, Mass.) from first base. Wolff came around to score later in the inning after Liam Lowery reached on a fielder's choice to break up an inning-ending double play.
 
The Midshipmen were unable to mount a late rally and dropped its second-straight game, 7-2.
 
Wilson Ayers (Fr., Ashburn, Va.) got his first collegiate start for Navy in the second half of the doubleheader. Ayers (0-2) surrendered seven hits and five runs, to go along with five strikeouts in his 3-1/3 innings. 
 
Ethan Nichols (1-1) grabbed the win after punching out 10 batters in six innings giving up four hits and no runs for Air Force.
 
Navy is scheduled to have its season opener on Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m. against Coppin State at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.