ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy baseball team (14-7, 4-0 Patriot League) continued its strong start to league play with a 6-3 win in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader and the Midshipmen rallied to win the series finale, 11-10, against Bucknell (4-14, 0-4 Patriot League) as they swept the Bison during the first weekend of the Patriot League season at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium. 
 
Navy's four victories this weekend extended its winning streak to seven games and the Midshipmen have won 13 of their last 15 games.
 
On Sunday, Christian Hodge (Sr., Winder, Ga.) led Navy with three hits and four RBIs. Zach Stevens (Fr., Lexington, Mass.) had three official at-bats in his two starts on Sunday and notched two hits, two RBIs and scored four runs. Stevens was also walked three times and hit by a pitch once to post a .875 on-base mark for the day.
 
"We had to work hard today for the two wins," head coach Paul Kostacopoulos said after the series. "I give Bucknell a lot of credit. They played hard all day long and really kept after us. We were able to come up with a couple of extra plays and a couple of extra hits to make it work today."
 
"It is still game-to-game for us," Kostacopoulos commented on his team's strong play as of late. "The most important thing is that we are playing a little better blended baseball. We are getting some good pitching, some timely hitting and we have had strong defense pretty much the entire season. We are starting to play some good blended baseball and we have to continue to do that."
 
Navy 6, Bucknell 3
 
The Midshipmen got off to a quick start on Sunday against the Bison with runs in each of the first three innings of the seven-inning game. Evan Lowery (Jr., Williamsburg, Va.) started the game for Navy with a double just inside the first-base bag. With two outs and Evan Lowery at third base, Hodge drove in his first run of the day with a single to right field to give the Midshipmen an early 1-0 advantage in the first inning.
 
In the second inning, Evan Lowery doubled Navy's lead with a sacrifice fly to left field making it a 2-0 game in favor of the Midshipmen. 
 
Navy broke the game open with a four-run third inning to grab a 6-0 lead. After back-to-back singles from Zach Biggers (Jr., Walhalla, S.C.) and Liam Lowery (Sr., Williamsburg, Va.) to start the inning, Hodge belted a three-run home run to put the Midshipmen ahead by five runs. Matt Wolff (Fr., Fishers, Ind.) scored an unearned run for Navy to end the third inning after reaching on a fielder's choice and coming around from first base on an error, wild pitch and passed ball to give the Midshipmen a 6-0 lead.
 
Bucknell did not go away quietly in the first game of the day with three runs in the fifth inning to pull within three. Caleb Broughton drove in the first run of the game for the Bison with a single and Jack Schuler had a two-RBI double to push Bucknell within three runs of Navy late in the game. 
 
After coming in out of the bullpen in the middle of the fifth inning, Trent Topping (Fr., Temecula, Calif.) shut down the Bison down the stretch to seal the 6-3 victory for the Midshipmen and notched his second save of the season.
 
Charlie Connolly (So., Wayne, Pa.) tossed 4-1/3 innings to move to 2-1 on the season after allowing three runs on four hits and three walks in his start. Topping allowed just a walk and a hit in his 2-2/3 innings for the save.
 
Jack Simpson (1-3) suffered the loss after giving up six runs -- five earned -- on five hits and five walks in 2-1/3 innings.
 
Navy 11, Bucknell 10
 
In the second game of the day and final game of the weekend, Bucknell jumped ahead early and scored six of the first seven runs of the game to grab a 6-1 lead early on. The Bison scored twice in the first inning and tallied two more runs in the third inning to take an early 4-0 lead over Navy.
 
The Midshipmen got on the board in the bottom of the third inning with a triple from Stevens to start out the frame. Following an errant throw back to the infield on the triple, Stevens scored to make it a 3-1 contest.
 
However, twos were wild for Bucknell to start the game with another two-run stanza in the fourth inning. The Bison had two runs each in the first, third and fourth innings to take a 6-1 lead. 
 
With just one hit and one baserunner through the first three innings, Navy scored seven runs on four hits to erase its deficit and take a two-run lead in the fourth inning. The Midshipmen drew four walks in the inning and had three-straight run-scoring hits to pace the offense in the inning. Hodge drove in Biggers with a single and Williamson doubled to right field to plate Liam Lowery. Stevens pulled Navy within a run with a two-RBI single back up the middle.
 
Still trailing by a run in the bottom of the fourth inning, Evan Lowery drove in a pair of runs with a two-RBI double. Biggers extended Navy's lead to 8-6 with a sacrifice fly to end the seven-run fourth inning.
 
Both teams continued to trade punches in the series finale, as the Bison scored a run in the fifth inning to pull within a run, but Navy answered with a run in the sixth inning off of an error from Bucknell.
 
The Midshipmen grabbed a couple more insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take an 11-7 lead. Joe Simourian (Fr., Andover, Mass.) singled through the right side of the infield to score two runs and extend Navy's edge to four runs.
 
The Bison tried to put together another late rally with three runs in the eighth inning. Bucknell tallied its three runs on three hits and an error to make the score 11-10 in favor of Navy. Trey Braithwaite (So., Winchester, Va.) limited the runs for the Bison in the eighth inning and left two runners stranded to end the frame. Braithwaite then tossed a perfect ninth inning to secure the 11-10 victory for the Midshipmen and the series sweep.
 
Sante Grossi (So., Riverside, Calif.) grabbed his first decision of the year in the victory after 1-2/3 inning out of the bullpen. Grossi (1-0) allowed two runs on two hits in his outing. Braithwaite picked up the save -- his second of the year -- in two innings of work, where he allowed one run on a hit and two walks.
 
Wilson Ayers (Fr., Ashburn, Va.) got the start and threw 2-1/3 innings allowing four runs on six hits. Dalton Baker (Fr., Sebring, Fla.) had a three-inning relief appearance and gave up five hits and three runs.
 
Nate Grisius (1-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing seven runs -- six earned -- in 3-1/3 innings to start for the Bison.
 
The Midshipmen are back at home during the midweek as they host Mount St. Mary's at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium on Wednesday at 3 p.m.