ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy baseball team (34-15, 18-7 Patriot League) clinched its fifth-straight Patriot League Regular Season Championship on Sunday during its doubleheader against Lafayette (16-27, 10- Patriot League). The Midshipmen lost the first game on Senior Day, 5-2, but rebounded to win the second game of the doubleheader, 3-1, to split the day and win the season series against the Leopards, 4-1.
 
Navy clinched the championship following Army and Holy Cross splitting their doubleheader on Sunday and the Midshipmen capped off their championship afternoon with a victory in game two against the Lafayette.
 
"I think everyone starts out with that goal," head coach Paul Kostacopoulos said about winning the Patriot League title. "The regular season is a challenge. It is seven weekends and it is a measure of what you do. I am really proud of our team for being able to win the regular season and now we have to turn the page and look forward to the playoffs."
 
Prior to the doubleheader at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium, the Navy baseball program honored its six graduating seniors on Senior Day. Seniors Matthew Wilcox (Los Gatos, Calif.), Kyle Stewart (Ladera Ranch, Calif.), Jackson Zoch (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), Noah Song (Claremont, Calif.), Liam Lowery (Williamsburg, Va.) and Christian Hodge (Winder, Ga.) were all recognized prior to the games for playing their final regular-season home contests in Annapolis.
 
Lafayette 5, Navy 2
 
Runs were at a premium all day and in the first game of the doubleheader on Sunday, just seven runs were scored between the two teams.
 
After a scoreless first three innings, Liam Lowery got the Midshipmen on the board first in the fourth inning. Following a leadoff double from Hodge in the fourth inning and a one-out single from Jacob Williamson (Jr., Sims, N.C.), Liam Lowery delivered a sacrifice fly to score Hodge and give Navy the 1-0 lead.
 
However, in next half inning, the Leopards answered with pair of runs on two hits and an error that gave Lafayette the 2-1 lead with just two innings remaining.
 
The back-and-forth battle continued down the stretch as Navy tied the game at two in the sixth inning. With two outs in the inning, Christian Policelli (Fr., Walkersville, Md.) doubled down the right-field line and Joe Simourian (Fr., Andover, Mass.) reached on a walk. Evan Lowery (Jr., Williamsburg, Va.) drove in the tying run with an RBI single to centerfield. The Midshipmen were unable to continue the two-out rally and went to the seventh inning with scored knotted at two.
 
Lafayette answered another Navy run with a three-run seventh inning to grab a 5-2 lead over Navy. The Midshipmen looked to answer back once again in the home half of the seventh inning, but they left two runners on base and dropped a 5-2 contest in game one.
 
In the start, Jared Leins (So., Raleigh, N.C.) went six innings in the no-decision and allowed two runs -- one earned -- on five hits and struck out four. Trey Braithwaite (So., Winchester, Va.) suffered the loss and moved to 1-1 on the year after allowing three runs on three hits and walk in an inning of relief.
 
Brad Kreyer (1-1) picked the win after going all seven innings allowing two runs on eight hits and six walks.
 
Navy 3, Lafayette 1
 
The low scoring affairs on Sunday continued in the second half of the doubleheader with a combined four runs in game two. The script in the second game started the same as game one with three scoreless frames on both sides. However, the tide turned in the fourth inning with Lafayette striking for the first run of the game. After a leadoff walk in the fourth inning, Dan Leckie tripled off the centerfield wall to score the opening run of game two.
 
With just one hit over the first four innings, Navy's offense found its stride in the fifth inning with four hits to grab a 3-1 lead. Zach Biggers (Jr., Walhalla, S.C.) tripled out to right field with one out in the fifth inning and two batters later, Hodge tied the game with a two-strike, two-out single back up the middle to plate Biggers and tie the game at one run apiece. Just two pitches later, Zach Stevens (Fr., Lexington, Mass.) homered for the second time in as many days to give Navy the 3-1 lead in the fifth inning. Stevens' home run also extended his hitting streak to nine games with the Midshipmen carrying the two-run advantage into the final half of the game.
 
Both pitching staffs settled in over the final four innings. Navy had just two base runners in its final three at-bats and the Leopards notched just two hits in the last four innings The pair of Charlie Connolly (So., Wayne, Pa.) and Trent Topping (Fr., Temecula, Calif.) allowed Lafayette to score just one run on four hits in the Midshipmen's 3-1 win in game two to split the doubleheader on Sunday.
 
Connolly (4-3) went seven innings in the win and allowed a run on three hits and three walks. Connolly was one strikeout away from tying his career high with nine against the Leopards. The sophomore also had a stretch of four-straight strikeouts and five in six batters faced.
 
Kyle Subbers (0-4) was tagged with the loss on the mound after allowing three runs on five hits and five walks in five innings of work.
 
"I thought our pitching was good today," Kostacopoulos said following Sunday's doubleheader. "It was good to see Jared Leins come out and throw well and Charlie Connolly threw very well today. I thought we got four really good starts this weekend, which is critical in a four-game weekend, and our pitching was what really paced us for what we did this weekend. Now, we just have to turn the page and look forward to the next couple weeks to prepare for whoever we play in the first round."
 
With Navy's regular-season home slate behind it, the Midshipmen will travel to Longwood next weekend for a three-game series in Farmville, Va. Navy will host a semifinal series in the Patriot League Tournament from May 11-12.