ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy baseball (5-1) scored its game-winning runs in the final third of both games on Saturday as the Midshipmen swept a doubleheader against service academy rival Air Force (1-5) at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
Zach Stevens (So., Lexington, Mass.) paced the Navy offense on the day going 5-for-7 with four RBIs and four extra-base hits. Navy's pitching staff allowed just three earned runs over 18 innings and struck out 21 batters to help the Midshipmen sweep the doubleheader.
 
"The scores really dictated how competitive today's games were," head coach Paul Kostacopoulos said after the two wins. "The first ballgame was a great game, 5-4, kind of back-and-forth and we got some of the timely plays we needed to win that game. In game two, Charlie Connolly pitched really well, as well as, Nate Mitchell and Dalton Baker. Game two really came from the mound since we did not have much going on offense and then we were able to scrap and claw for three runs in the eighth inning.
 
"What I was happy with was that we played really solid baseball from a standpoint of not making too many mistakes and that the was the key to today to keep us close and get a couple of wins."
 
Navy 5, Air Force 4
 
Navy got off to an early lead with two first-inning runs on two hits. With one out in the frame, Michael Coritz (Sr., Clifton, Va.) doubled to right-center field and he advanced two bases on a wild pitch to score. The wild pitch came on ball four to Christian Policelli (So., Walkersville, Md.) and he was able to move up to second base on the play. Stevens started his strong day at the plate with a double to score Policelli and give the Midshipmen a 2-0 advantage.
 
Air Force cut its deficit in half with a two-out RBI single in the third inning with Braydon Altorfer driving in Blake Covin. 
 
In the fifth inning, Navy added some more insurance runs to take a three-run lead into the second half of the contest. Stevens drove in his second run of the game with a single back up the middle with two outs to plate Joe Simourian (So., Andover, Mass.). After the Falcons made a pitching change, Evan Lowery (Sr., Williamsburg, Va.) continued the two-out rally with a single to score Zach Biggers (Sr., Walhalla, S.C.) and give the Midshipmen a 4-1 lead after five innings.
 
Despite trailing by three, Air Force continued to chip away at its deficit with a run in the sixth and the Falcons notched a pair of unearned runs in the seventh to tie the game at four runs apiece.
 
However, the tie did not last long with Navy answering back with a run in the home half of the seventh inning. Coritz started with an infield single and then with one out, Stevens sent a ball to right field for a triple to score Coritz and give Navy a late 5-4 advantage.
 
The back-and-forth contest continued with the Falcons placing runners on the corners with no outs but Trey Braithwaite (Jr., Winchester, Va.) worked out of his jam to keep Navy ahead by a run after eight innings. Braithwaite locked down the save for Navy after going two innings allowing two hits and a pair of walks but striking out three batters without allowing a run as the Midshipmen won the opening game of the series, 5-4.
 
Colin Jones (So., Collierville, Tenn.) earned his first collegiate win after throwing 1-2/3 innings allowing two unearned runs on two hits. In the start, Jared Leins (Jr., Raleigh, N.C.) allowed one run on three hits in five innings of work while striking out six. 
 
Out of the bullpen, Nathan Price (0-2) suffered the loss after allowing a run on three hits in the final two innings.
 
Navy 3, Air Force 1
 
In a pitchers' dual in the second half of the doubleheader, Charlie Connolly (Jr., Wayne, Pa.) and Air Force's Steven Fairburn Jr. kept the game scoreless over the first six innings. Connolly tossed six innings of shutout baseball surrendering three hits and two walks to go along with nine strikeouts. Fairburn Jr. shutout Navy for seven innings giving up just five hits and striking out five.
 
Over the first six innings, each team had just three hits and the Falcons had the best scoring threat early on with two runners on base in the first inning but Connolly got out the early jam. Navy's best scoring chance in the early going came in the bottom of the fourth inning with a one-out double by Stevens but he was stranded at second base.
 
Air Force scored the first run of the contest in the top of the seventh inning as the Falcons notched two doubles in the inning off of Nate Mitchell (Fr., Parker, Colo.) to grab a 1-0 lead.
 
The Midshipmen were held off the scoreboard until the eighth inning when they struck for three runs on just one hit. Simourian started the stanza with a walk and then Coritz placed two runners on base with a one-out walk. Following a wild pitch, Policelli singled to left-center field scoring Simourian and Navy still had two runners in scoring position after Policelli moved up to second on the throw home. Already with four RBIs on the day, Stevens was intentionally walked to the load bases. The intentional walk came back to haunt Air Force with Lowery and Jacob Williamson (Sr., Sims, N.C.) each driving in a run with bases-loaded walks. The Midshipmen were unable to break the game open as they left the bases loaded.
 
With the 3-1 advantage, Dalton Baker (So., Sebring, Fla.) came in to close the game for Navy and he worked around a one-out single to secure the 3-1 victory for the Midshipmen, along with the doubleheader sweep of Air Force.
 
Mitchell (1-0) earned the win for Navy after throwing two innings of relief and allowing the one run on three hits with a pair of strikeouts. Baker allowed just one hit in his inning of work to capture his first collegiate save.
 
For the second time on the day, Price (0-2) was tagged with the loss after giving up two runs on four walks and a hit.
 
With the sweep on Saturday, Navy runs its winning streak to five games.
 
Navy and Air Force wrap up the three-game series on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. from Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.