ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy (7-1) won its seventh-straight contest and notched its first shutout of the season with a 10-0 victory over Massachusetts (1-3) on Saturday afternoon to start a three-game series against the Minutemen at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
The Midshipmen got a seven-inning scoreless start from Charlie Connolly (Jr., Wayne, Pa.) who struck out a career-high 11 batters without surrendering a walk. For the second-straight game, Navy pounded out 11 hits for a season-high 10 runs with Jacob Williamson (Sr., Sims, N.C.) leading the offense with three hits and three RBIs. Williamson was the only player in the game to record multiple hits.
 
"We got a really good start today from Charlie Connolly and he gave us opportunities to battle early against a pretty good starter for Massachusetts. We were able to scratch some runs across early and build up a pitch count to get into their middle relief," head coach Paul Kostacopoulos said. "Charlie really set the tone today and he really did not give them many opportunities to score.
 
"I think we have done a good job overall of trying to hit hittable pitches," Kostacopoulos said about his offense. "We have not chased a lot and our on-base percentage is pretty good right now and we are winning the walks to strikeouts ratio. We are doing a good job at the plate, we have a long way to go there, it is early in the season and I think pitchers are going to be sharper and we are going to have to hit the ball when it presents itself in the zone and make sure we have good swings at it."
 
Both pitchers controlled the game early on as Connolly retired the first nine batters in order before Massachusetts got its first base runner in the third inning. After a passed ball on strike three and a single, Connolly got of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and a line out to keep the game scoreless.
 
In the home half of the third inning, the Midshipmen broke the scoreless affair with a pair of two-out runs. Zach Stevens (So., Lexington, Mass.) drove in the first run of the game with a single to right field that plated Zach Biggers (Sr., Walhalla, S.C.) and then Stevens scored on an RBI single from Evan Lowery (Sr., Williamsburg, Va.).
 
After a scoreless fourth inning, Navy scored in its final four at-bats to stretch out its lead. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Midshipmen loaded the bases with a hit by pitch and back-to-back walks. Williamson broke the game open with a triple off the wall in right-center field that cleared the bases and gave Navy a 5-0 advantage.
 
Christian Policelli (So., Walkersville, Md.) had the run-scoring hit in the sixth inning after his single to centerfield brought home Joe Simourian (So., Andover, Mass.) and Michael Coritz (Sr., Clifton, Va.) to extend the Navy lead to seven.
 
The Midshipmen added two more runs in the seventh inning after Matt Wolff (So., Fishers, Ind.) scored from third base on a balk and Biggers scored on a pinch-hit double from Nico Valdez (So., Stevenson Ranch, Calif.).
 
In its final at-bat of the day, Navy tacked on another run with a pinch-hit RBI single from Kyle Rausch (Fr., Middle Island, N.Y.) that scored Nick Burch (Fr., Hollywood, Md.) from second base.
 
Thomas Russell (Fr., Fairfax, Va.) made his first collegiate appearance and tossed two scoreless innings for the Midshipmen to seal the shutout and the 10-0 victory. Russell struck out four batters and walked just two without allowing a hit. 
 
In his seven-inning start, Connolly (1-0) only gave up four hits to earn his first victory of the season.
 
Sean Harney (1-1) suffered the loss after allowing five runs in five innings and giving up five walks.
 
Navy and Massachusetts wrap up the three-game series on Sunday with a doubleheader starting at noon from Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.