ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In a back-and-forth battle in the third and final game of the Patriot League Championship, the Navy baseball team (39-17) dropped a tight 4-3 decision to Army (34-24) following a run from Army in the ninth inning.
 
Zach Biggers (Jr., Walhalla, S.C.) led the offense going 2-for-4 with a home run and two of the team's three RBIs. Evan Lowery (Jr., Williamsburg, Va.) chipped in with a pair of hits and Liam Lowery (Sr., Williamsburg, Va.) notched the Midshipmen's third RBI of the day.
 
"Army did a good job today of getting on base," head coach Paul Kostacopoulos said. "We also did a good job at thwarting them away with throwing runners out and making good defensive plays. Whenever you have a one-run ballgame you can point to different plays that could have made the difference. It was just a well-played, hard-fought weekend. Army competed really hard and we competed just as hard."
 
Army struck first with a run in the first inning after a leadoff walk from Charlie Connolly (So., Wayne, Pa.) came around to score and the Black Knights grabbed the early 1-0 lead.
 
Despite being held scoreless in the first three innings, the Midshipmen battled back with a run in the fourth and another run in the fifth inning. In the fourth inning, Navy took advantage of Army miscues to square the game at one. Zach Stevens (Fr., Lexington, Mass.) struck out to start the inning but reached base on a wild pitch. Then, Christian Hodge (Sr., Winder, Ga.) grounded a ball to third base, however, as Army was trying turn two, a wild throw allowed Stevens to advance to third and Hodge reached first base. Liam Lowery drove in Navy's first run of the game on a sacrifice fly that allowed Stevens to score from third base.
 
With the scored tied at one, Evan Lowery tripled to the gap in left-center field with one out to start the Midshipmen's rally in the fifth inning. Evan Lowery came in to score after Biggers went to the opposite field with two outs to give Navy a 2-1 advantage. 
 
The seesaw battle continued with Army coming back in the sixth inning with a run to tie the game once again. The Black Knights looked to take the lead late in the game as it loaded the bases but Jackson Zoch (Sr., San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) came in and retired the first batter he faced to keep the score tied at two. 
 
Army also mirrored its sixth inning in the seventh with another run to take the 3-2 lead and once again the Black Knights left the bases loaded this time with Trent Topping (Fr., Temecula, Calif.) getting out of the jam in the seventh inning. 
 
The Army offense continued to try and break the game open as it loaded the bases for the third-straight inning in the top of the eighth. However, this time, Navy kept it a 3-2 contest after a web gem from Joe Simourian (Fr., Andover, Mass.). Simourian laid out for a ball in the right-center field gap and made the diving catch to leave the bases loaded after the top of the eighth inning. 
 
Navy did not go down without a fight as Biggers launched his first home run of the season to tie the game at three with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Midshipmen tried to regain the lead after placing runners on first and third with two outs but Navy was unable to push across the go-ahead run as the scored remained tied at three heading into the final stanza.
 
In the ninth inning, Army got a leadoff double and with one out in the inning, Trey Braithwaite (So., Winchester, Va.) nearly struck out Jeremiah Adams for the second out, but after a ball on the inside corner just missed the strike zone, Adams delivered the game-winning hit with a bloop single out to left field.
 
The Midshipmen looked to make one last effort to try and rally for the third time in the game but Navy was only able to notch one hit and lost the Patriot League title, 4-3.
 
Braithwaite (1-2) suffered the loss after allowing one run on three hits and pair of walks. Connolly got the start and went 5-2/3 innings giving up two runs on three hits and five walks while recording five strikeouts.
 
Cam Opp (5-1) earned the win after tossing three innings of relief and allowing a run on three hits.
 
"Over nine months of working hard together as a unit, so many other things come about: competing, working through bad times, learning how to handle good times together and just being a unit. That is what we are. We are a unit and they [the seniors] will take that with them for the rest of their lives," Kostacopoulos concluded.
 
Navy finishes the season with a record of 39-17 and the Midshipmen's 39 wins are the second-most in program history.