ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Noah Song (Sr., Claremont, Calif.) tossed a one-hit, complete-game shutout in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader as Navy baseball (30-13, 15-5 Patriot League) split the two games at home against Army (23-16, 10-6 Patriot League). The Midshipmen took the first game of the day in a 3-0 contest, while the Black Knights rebounded game two to grab an 11-3 win. The final game of the baseball Star Series is set to begin at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network. Following the doubleheader split, the winner of the 2019 baseball Star will be decided in Sunday's single game at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
Song allowed just three baserunners throughout game one to post his eighth win of the season, where he recorded eight strikeouts to run his season total to 118. Zach Stevens (Fr., Lexington, Mass.) paced the Navy offense on Saturday going a combined 4-for-7 with two RBIs. Stevens' home run in the second inning of game one was the difference in the Midshipmen's victory.
 
"I am running out of ways to describe Noah's [Song] performance," head coach Paul Kostacopoulos said after the doubleheader. "Today was fun to sit back and watch him pitch because you are not going to see that too often.
 
"I thought the second game was kind of a funny game. I thought we hit the ball pretty well but it is about getting them at the right times and we did not necessarily do that.  We also put too many guys on base in the second game. Army's is too good on the bases to allow extra guys to reach base. That put us under a lot of pressure and we did not necessarily kick the ball around but that is who Army is and we led them to their offense with too many free passes."
 
Navy 3, Army 0
 
In a pitcher's duel in game one of the weekend series, runs and hits were at a premium. Jacob Hurtubise bunted for a base hit to start the game and he moved up into scoring position with one out, Song retired three-straight batters to end the first inning and keep Army off the board.
 
Following the leadoff bunt single, Song retired 14-straight batters and allowed a two-out walk in the fifth inning. Song would allow just one walk in the sixth inning as those were the only three bases runners he allowed and faced 24 batters in the seven-inning ballgame.
 
Navy put up a three-spot in the bottom of the second inning as the Midshipmen tallied three of their four hits in the frame. Following a leadoff single from Christian Hodge (Sr., Winder, Ga.), Stevens turned on the first pitch of his at-bat and hit a two-run home run over the fence in left-center field as Navy took a 2-0 lead just two pitches into the second inning.
 
With the 2-0 lead, Navy continued to find its stride on offense as the first four batters reached base in the inning. After the two runs were scored, Liam Lowery (Sr., Williamsburg, Va.) reached on a walked and Jacob Williamson (Jr., Sims, N.C.) singled out to centerfield. Still with no outs in the second inning, Matt Wolff (Fr., Fishers, Ind.) drove in Liam Lowery with a sacrifice fly to centerfield to give the Midshipmen a 3-0 advantage through two innings.
 
Both team's offenses were held in check down the stretch as Navy would get just one more hit in the game, which came from Williamson with a two-out double in the fourth inning, but he was stranded at second base.
 
Still in a tight game heading into the seventh inning, Song struck out the side to finish off the game and seal Navy's 3-0 victory.
 
Song (8-0) went all seven innings allowing just one hit and striking out eight batters. Song's victory on Saturday ties him for most career wins in program history with 29. He is tied with Chuck Davis (1959-61) who notched 29 wins on the mound during his time at Navy. Song now has eight career shutouts to his name, which is second all-time, trailing Davis by one.
 
Tyler Giovinco (6-3) suffered the loss after giving up three runs on four hits in six innings where he picked up four strikeouts.
 
Army 11, Navy 3
 
The second game started out on a similar note as game one with Hurtubise bunting for a single and the Black Knights not being able to score off the leadoff hit, followed by Navy scoring first.
 
After Army ran itself out of the first inning, the Midshipmen countered and scored two runs in their first at-bat with three-straight base hits to start the game. Evan Lowery (Jr., Williamsburg, Va.) doubled down the left-field line and then Michael Coritz (Jr., Clifton, Va.) bunted for a base hit to place runners at the corners. Zach Biggers (Jr., Walhalla, S.C.) double down the line in left field to plate Evan Lowery and Coritz to give Navy the early 2-0 in the opening stanza.
 
The Midshipmen were unable to increase their lead after Biggers was stranded on third base to end the first inning.
 
Navy's lead did not last long with a two-RBI double from Andre Walden in the top of the second inning to square the game at two.
 
Both teams had scoreless frames in the third and fourth innings, but Army broke open the game with pair of crooked numbers in the fifth and sixth innings. The Black Knights scored four runs on four hits in the fifth inning and then three runs on three hits in the sixth inning to grab a 9-2 advantage late in the game.
 
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Navy got a run back with a single back up the middle from Christian Policelli (Fr., Walkersville, Md.) to make it a 9-3 contest after he drove in Biggers, but Army sealed the game with two more runs in the ninth inning to split the doubleheader in an 11-3 ballgame in the nightcap.
 
Charlie Connolly (So., Wayne, Pa.) went three innings in the start and earned a no-decision. Connolly allowed two runs on three hits and three while recording a trio of strikeouts. Jackson Zoch (Sr., San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) was tagged with the loss and slipped to 2-1 on the year after giving up five runs on five hits in 2-1/3 innings out of the bullpen.
 
Daniel Burggraaf (3-2) earned the win after tossing 6-2/3 innings allowing three runs on 11 hits.
 
The series finale is set to begin at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon from Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.