ANNAPOLIS, Md. – After relinquishing the lead in the ninth inning, the Navy baseball team (38-15) put together an eight-run 12th inning to beat Lafayette (19-33), 10-2, and sweep the Leopards. The Midshipmen's victory on Sunday punched their ticket to the Patriot League Championship series for the second-straight season. 
 
With the game tied at two in the top of the 12th inning, Ryan Duffey (So., Duxbury, Mass.) delivered an RBI single to give Navy a 3-2 lead in the frame and then the Midshipmen would tack on seven more runs in the inning to complete the semifinal sweep and advance to the Patriot League Final. Jacob Williamson (Jr., Sims, N.C.) paced Navy after going 2-for-6 with three runs scored and he also made a game-saving play on defense in the bottom of the 11th inning to steal a hit from the Leopards and strand a runner on third base. Liam Lowery (Sr., Williamsburg, Va.) led all hitters in the game going 3-for-5 with an RBI at the dish.
 
On the mound, Jared Leins (So., Raleigh, N.C.) had a stellar outing in the no-decision going 7-2/3 innings allowing one run on two hits and striking out a career-high nine batters. Leins also held Lafayette hitless over the first 5-2/3 innings.
 
"There was a lot of unique plays throughout today's game," head coach Paul Kostacopoulos said after the game. "Sometimes you lose sight of this during a game like this but our starting pitcher, Jared Leins, was phenomenal. He pitched a really good game and on the other side, Brett Kreyer pitched a really good game. Kreyer had three pitches mixed and that was successful against us today.
 
"I thought we made a lot of good defensive plays to hang in there. Sometimes when you lose a lead, especially when you're the visitors, that can weigh on you but we hung in there and got something going. He also had big hits from Liam Lowery after he had a couple of doubles to get us some runs."
 
Like game one of the best-of-three series, a pitchers' duel broke out in the second game of the semifinal. The Midshipmen took the early lead with a run in the second inning. Following back-to-back one-out singles from Williamson and Lowery, Navy placed a pair of runners in scoring position following a wild pitch. Christian Policelli (Fr., Walkersville, Md.) loaded the bases for the Midshipmen after being hit by a pitch and Joe Simourian (Fr., Andover, Mass.) drove in the first run of the ballgame on a sacrifice fly to plate Williamson. With the 1-0 lead in the second inning, Navy tried to increase its advantage but it left two runners on base to end the frame.
 
Pitching took over the game on both sides as Leins held Lafayette hitless through 5-2/3 innings and after notching three hits in the first two innings, the Midshipmen had just one hit over the next four stanzas to cling to the one-run lead. The Leopards broke up Leins' no-hit bid with a two-out infield single in the sixth inning.
 
Navy got back on the offensive in the top of the seventh inning, with the duo of Williamson and Lowery recording back-to-back hits to start the inning. Williamson led off with a single out to centerfield and then Lowery scorched a double into the right-field corner to drive in Williamson from first base and double the Navy lead.
 
With the 2-0 lead, Leins continued to roll and faced just one over the minimum and allowed one hit through seven innings. 
 
Lafayette's offense finally broke through in the eighth inning with a run on one hit and the Leopards were able to chase Leins from the game trailing but just one run heading into the ninth inning.
 
Playing as the home team at Max Bishop Stadium, Lafayette had the last at-bat in the ninth inning and it made the most of it. Trey Braithwaite (So., Winchester, Va.) was looking for his program-record 11th save of the season, but the Leopards flipped the script and tied the game in the ninth inning. With one on and one out in the ninth inning, Richard Villa doubled off the wall in left field to score Spencer Rouse from first base and tie the game at two. Lafayette tried to end game in the ninth inning, but Braithwaite worked out of the jam with a strikeout and a fly out as the game was pushed into extra innings.
 
Missed opportunities were the story of the extra frames as Navy stranded a runner on second base in the 10th and 11th innings, while Lafayette left a runner on second in the 10th and had runners on the corners in the 11th inning. In the bottom of the 11th inning, the Leopards had runners at first and third base with two outs and Dylan Minghini ripped a ball to left side of the infield where Williamson made a diving stop to take away a hit and retire Minghini at first base, which also left the Leopards potential game-winning run just 90-feet away at the end of 11 innings.
 
Still, in a 2-2 deadlock heading into the 12th inning, Navy took advantage of the momentum shift and tallied eight runs in the inning. The Midshipmen got the first three batters aboard to start the inning following a double from Lowery, a Policelli walk and bunt single from Simourian. Duffey -- who came in as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning -- delivered the game-winning hit with a single through the left side of the infield to score Matt Wolff (Fr., Fishers, Ind.) -- who pinch ran for Lowery -- and give the Midshipmen a 3-2 edge.
 
With the lead in the 12th inning and the bases still loaded, the Midshipmen scored four-straight runs with three bases-loaded walks and a bases-loaded hit by pitch to grab a 7-2 lead. Wolff drove in two runs with a single and Policelli drove in a run with a sacrifice fly as the freshmen pair ballooned Navy's lead to 10-2 after the top of the 12th inning.
 
Tommy Goodridge (So., San Diego, Calif.) pitched a perfect bottom of the 12th inning with a pair of strikeouts to seal Navy's 10-2 win in extra innings and pushing the Midshipmen into the championship series of the Patriot League Tournament. 
 
Trent Topping (Fr., Temecula, Calif.) earned the victory on the mound to climb to 3-3 after throwing 1-2/3 innings allowing just two hits and striking out one. Leins finished the game with a career-high nine strikeouts in 7-2/3 innings to start and he allowed one run on two hits and walked one.
 
David Giusti (2-1) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on three hits and a walk without registering an out in the 12th inning for Lafayette.
 
With the victory, Navy will host the winner of Holy Cross and Army in the Patriot League Championship.
 
The first game of the Patriot League Championship is currently slated to begin on Friday at 7 p.m. from Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.