ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Navy baseball (6-1, 2-1 Patriot League) scored 10 runs in the eighth inning to erase a four-run deficit and come from behind to beat Bucknell (5-9, 5-5 Patriot League), 15-10, en route to winning the weekend series on Sunday afternoon from Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
In the eighth inning, the Midshipmen sent 15 hitters to the plate and scored their 10 runs on seven hits. Ryan Duffey (Sr., Duxbury, Mass.) recorded three hits, three runs and three RBIs – all of which came from the game-winning, three-run double in the eighth inning. Zane Raba (Fr., San Antonio, Texas) finished the day going 4-for-5 at the plate with three runs scored and two RBIs. Logan Keller (Fr., Longwood, Fla.) notched a game-high four RBIs, while Navy had nine different players with at least a hit and four players with multi-hit games.
 
"Many times it doesn't happen, but you just hope that you just keep going. There is no clock in this game, they have to record all of the outs, and you just have to keep going," head coach Paul Kostacopoulos commented about the 10-run eighth inning. "We had some good fortune with a couple of choppers that we beat out and balls dropping in the right places and that is how you get 10 runs.
 
"Whenever you win a conference game – and we were pushing the rock uphill the whole game – and to come back like that, it is going to pay dividends," Kostacopoulos mentioned.
 
The Bison got out ahead early with a run in the first inning, but the Midshipmen answered right back with two runs of their own in the home half of the frame. Joe Simourian (Jr., Andover, Mass.) led off the game with a triple – his fourth of the year – and he scored on a Keller double. Following back-to-back groundouts, Keller came in to score with Zach Stevens (Jr., Lexington, Mass.) recording the RBI.
 
Navy took a 3-1 lead in the second inning with Duffey starting the inning with a single and then the Midshipmen loaded the bases with a walk and another single. Hudson Lehnertz (Fr., Santa Ana, Calif.) drove in Duffey with a sacrifice fly out to centerfield.
 
Bucknell left the bases loaded to end the first and second innings but capitalized in the third inning with a four-run frame to grab a 5-3 advantage. Anthony Sherwin delivered the big hit with a three-run home run for the Bison.
 
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Midshipmen tied the game after a Raba triple drove in Duffey and Raba later scored on a groundout by Lehnertz.
 
The Bison continued to answer Navy's runs as they scored two runs of their own in the fifth and then another two in the sixth. All four of Bucknell's runs came from the longball from Henry Novicki and Chris Cannizzaro as they each hit two-run home runs.
 
With the 9-5 deficit, Dalton Baker (Jr., Sebring, Fla.) came in and pitched a perfect seventh and eighth innings to keep Navy within four runs.
 
Still down by four, the Midshipmen started their rally with one out in the eighth inning. Navy loaded the bases following a single from Raba, a double from Kiel Brenczewski (So., Fishers, Ind.) – who came into pinch hit – and then Simourian was hit by a pitch. An infield single from Keller brought in one run and kept the bases loaded for the Midshipmen. Navy kept cutting into its deficit with Alex Smith (So., Laguna Hills, Calif.) working a bases-loaded walk, Stevens then brought in a run on a fielder's choice to cut the Midshipmen's deficit to one run.
 
After Bucknell recorded the second out of the eighth inning, Navy loaded the bases once again, and then Duffey recorded his bases-clearing double to give the Midshipmen an 11-9 advantage. Navy tacked on some more insurance runs in the frame with Nico Valdez (Jr., Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) driving in Duffey and Valdez scored on a single from Raba. Keller capped off the inning for the Midshipmen with a two-RBI single to left field giving the Midshipmen a 15-9 lead heading into the ninth inning.
 
The Bison tried to put together a two-out rally in the ninth inning, but they were only able to push across one run as Baker secured the 15-10 win for Navy.
 
Baker (2-0) threw three innings and only allowed two hits and an unearned run while striking out three batters in his outing out of the bullpen.
 
"Dalton was tremendous. He pitched three innings and gave us a chance down the stretch," Kostacopoulos said. "If we had continued where we were going we would not have been four runs down. He was able to give us a couple of chances. We got a little something going in the seventh inning that did not materialize and then he put up another zero, then we had the big eighth inning. Even after a 45-minute break heading into the ninth inning he still did a pretty good job."
 
Anthony Casciola (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing five runs on three hits, a walk and a hit batter where he only recorded one out in his relief appearance.
 
With the victory, the Midshipmen have now extended their home winning streak to 16-straight games, which is the second-longest home winning streak in the nation behind only Wright State's 22-straight wins at home.
 
Navy is back in action on Wednesday at 3 p.m. against George Washington on the road in Washington, D.C.