LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Navy baseball team (8-11, 1-3 Patriot League) parlayed a strong effort on the mound from the trio of Reece Early (Jr., Reistertown, Md.), Colin Jones (Sr., Collierville, Tenn.) and Landon Kruer (Fr., Sellersburg, Ind.) with a five-run, nine-hit effort on offense to salvage the final game of its four-game series against Bucknell (6-10, 3-1 Patriot League), 5-2, Sunday at the Bison's Depew Field. Prior to its three-run win, Navy dropped the continuation of Saturday's suspended contest against BU, 11-0.
 
Christian Policelli (Sr., Walkersville, Md.) led the way for the Midshipmen offense over the two contests, going a combined 3-for-8 with a home run, an RBI and two runs scored. With his effort at the plate over the two contests, Policelli extended his current hitting streak to seven games, in addition to pushing his on-base streak to nine-consecutive contests.
 
Following Policelli among Navy's leading hitters on Sunday was the duo of Ivan Aguirre (Fr., Temple City, Calif.) and Alex Smith (Jr., Laguna Hills, Calif.). Aguirre went a combined 3-for-5 over the two games, while Smith went 2-for-4 in game two with a triple and two RBI.
 
On the mound, the Mids were led by the aforementioned trio of Early, Jones and Kruer in game two. Early, making his third start of the season, tied his career-high with three strikeouts over 4.2 innings of work. Jones pitched the next 2.1 innings, retiring seven of the 12 batters he faced before giving way to Kruer. The freshman came on to earn his third save of the season, pitching two hitless innings that included working out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the eighth.
 
In game one, Liam Golden (Fr., Springfield, Va.) took his third loss of the season after allowing three runs on six hits over four innings of work. In the continuation of the contest Sunday, Trent Topping (Sr., Temecula, Calif.) allowed seven runs on four hits in his lone inning of work, before giving way to Owen Beisty (Fr., Wayne, Pa.) in the sixth, who allowed one run on two hits.
 
Anthony Sherwin led the way for the Bison over the two games at the plate, combining to go 5-for-8 with two doubles and three runs scored.
 
"The final game of the series, game four, we really played good baseball," said head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "We got really good starting pitching, really good relief pitching and we played excellent defense. We probably took six hits away from them (Bucknell), just really good defense and heads-up baseball. Hopefully we were able to salvage some of the weekend and gain some momentum for our upcoming week. Overall, really good character win in game four."
 
Game One: Bucknell 11, Navy 0 (Seven Innings)
Prior to the contest being suspended on Saturday, Bucknell jumped out to a three-run, first-inning lead over Navy on the back of four hits against Golden (1-3).
 
However, the freshman right-hander rebounded by retiring nine of the final 11 batters he faced to hold the Navy deficit at three runs entering the home half of the fifth. However, Golden was matched on the mound by Bucknell starter Ben Magovern (1-2), who pitched five scoreless innings, in which he allowed just four hits, prior to the contest being suspended.
 
Following the resumption of the game on Sunday, the Bison scored an additional four runs in the home half of the fifth against Topping to extend their lead to 7-0, highlighted by a two-RBI triple off the bat of Kendall Pierson.
 
Bucknell continued to add to its lead in the sixth, plating four runs on five hits in a frame that featured work from both Beisty and Topping, taking an 11-0 lead that ultimately secured victory for BU and clinched a win of its opening Patriot League series.
 
Game Two: Navy 5, Bucknell 2
Following its loss to open play on Sunday, Navy bounced back with a three-run victory, 5-2, over Bucknell in the series finale of the four-game set.
 
After an Eduardo Diaz (So., Miami, Fla.) walk and a Policelli single set the Mids up with runners on first and third with just one out, Alex Smith drove in the pair with a two-run triple to give Navy a two-run advantage. One batter later, Alex Smith came home to score on a Colin Smith (Jr., Wilmington, Del.) groundout, extending the Midshipmen lead to 3-0.
 
The Midshipmen added to their lead in the third, taking a 4-0 lead as Zach Stevens (Sr., Lexington, Mass.) laced a single down the left-field line that drove in Alex Smith.  
 
Following the early breakout from Navy on offense, Early went to work on maintain the three-run advantage, allowing just three hits over his first four innings of work.
 
"Reece (Early) was outstanding," Kostacopoulos remarked. "He hasn't thrown that much all year, working through the injury he had. Gutty performance too, he had to work his way out of a couple jams. Never gave in or surrendered the strike zone."
 
In the fifth, a two-out single set up Bucknell's first threat against Early, forcing the junior from the contest in favor of Jones (2-0) with runners on first and second and two outs.
 
The senior left-hander escaped the jam without allowing a run, striking out the Bison's Jacob Corson to end the frame. Following the inning-ending strikeout, Jones went on to retire five-straight batters, prior to Navy extending its lead to 5-0 in the seventh on a solo shot by Policelli, his second of the season.
 
After the home run by Policelli, Jones returned to the mound in the home half of the inning. The senior yielded back-to-back RBI doubles that brought the Midshipmen lead to 5-2, but worked out of the frame without further damage.
 
After allowing a walk and a single to open the eighth, Jones was pulled from the game and replaced by Kruer who was tasked with recording the final six outs. After allowing one-out walk to load the bases, the freshman struck out each of the next to batters to escape the inning unscathed, maintaining the Mids lead over the Bison.
 
In the ninth, Kruer continued his dominant outing, working around a two-out walk to earn the save and secure a 5-2 victory for the Mids over Bucknell.
 
"That was a hard-working save right there," said Kostacopoulos of Kruer. "Coming in and getting out their leadoff hitter (Sherwin) out in that situation, bases loaded, that was outstanding."
 
BU starting pitcher Brady Swenson (0-1) took the loss after giving up three runs on three hits and three walks over 0.2 innings of work. Chris Cannizzaro paced the Bison at the plate in game two, going 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and an RBI.
 
UP NEXT
Navy is slated to return to action Wednesday, as it travels to take on Maryland Eastern Shore. First pitch of the non-conference road tilt is slated for 3 p.m.