ANNAPOLIS, Md. – After dropping a 5-2 decision to Central Connecticut State (1-1) in game one of Saturday's doubleheader at Max Bishop Stadium, the Navy baseball team (6-3) bounced back with a 4-1 win in game two, led by a masterful pitching performance from the trio of Nate Mitchell (Jr., Parker, Colo.), Landon Kruer (Fr., Sellersburg, Ind.) and Zach Ward (So., Mokena, Ill.).
 
Mitchell opened the second game of Saturday's twin bill by allowing just one unearned run over four innings of work, before giving way to Ward who pitched the next 3.2 innings, allowing just two hits while walking one and striking out three. Kruer closed out the three-run victory for the Midshipmen, recording the final four outs without allowing a hit and striking out two batters.
 
Prior to the effort of the aforementioned trio in game two, Colin Jones (Sr., Collierville, Tenn.) pitched 3.1 innings in game one, tying a career-long outing, allowing just three hits and striking out two batters in relief of Matthew Shirah (So., Blue Ridge, Ga.) who posted a career-high four strikeouts over 3.2 frames of work, allowing five runs on five hits in what was his first loss of the 2022 campaign.
 
Eduardo Diaz (So., Miami, Fla.) led the Navy offense over the two contests, combining to tally five hits in seven at-bats along with scoring twice. Christian Policelli (Sr., Walkersville, Md.) finished the afternoon with three hits in addition to driving in a pair of runs, while Colin Smith (Jr., Wilmington, Del.) posted three hits, three runs scored and an RBI.
 
"It was a good day of baseball, in the sense of there being two pretty competitive games," said head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "We had our opportunities in the first game and couldn't cash in. The second game our pitching staff did a great job, Nate (Mitchell) had a great start and obviously Zach Ward threw really well and kept us in a close game. Landon (Kruer) did a nice job to get the final four outs, it really was pitching in the second game that did it for us. It was just one of those days, we need to be better and more efficient scoring, we are leaving too many guys on base. We just have to keep working, as the season goes on those at-bats will get better."
 
Game One: CCSU 5, Navy 2 (Seven Innings)
In its 2022 season opener, Central Connecticut State used a five-run fifth inning and a two-run outing from starting pitcher Dominic Niman (1-0) to secure a 5-2 victory over Navy in game one of Saturday's doubleheader. Noah Martinez and Hunter Pasqualini each tallied two hits and two RBI to lead the Blue Devils' effort at the plate.
 
For Navy, Policelli led the way in game one with two RBI in a 1-for-3 showing at the plate. Diaz and Smith added two hits apiece, while Hudson Lehnertz finished 1-for-2 with a run scored to round out the top offensive performers for the Mids.
In his second start of the 2022 season, Shirah (0-1) retired nine of the first 15 batters he faced, holding a scoreless tie until the top of the fourth when Central Connecticut State recorded the aforementioned five-run rally on four hits to take a commanding 5-0 lead over the Midshipmen.
 
The Navy bats would be silenced by Niman over the first five innings of play. The left-hander allowed just two hits over his first five frames of work, including retiring 15-consecutive batters after giving up back-to-back singles to open his outing.
 
The Mids came to life at the plate in the sixth, opening the bottom half of the inning with three-straight singles to chase Niman from the contest before Policelli laced a two-run single into the left-center field gap, closing the Navy deficit to 5-2.
 
The rally would ultimately come up short for the Midshipmen, as reliever Luke Garofalo retired the final five batters he faced after allowing the RBI single to Policelli, securing the game one victory for the Blue Devils.
 
Game Two: Navy 4, CCSU 1 (Nine Innings)
After being held to just two runs on six hits in game one, the Midshipmen offense came to life in the nightcap of Saturday's twin bill with four runs on 12 hits, highlighted by a 3-for-4 outing from Diaz who also scored two runs in support of the trio of Mitchell, Kruer and Ward (1-0) on the mound.
 
Along with the effort from Diaz at the plate, Lehnertz, Policelli and Logan Keller (So., Longwood, Fla.) each posted a multi-hit effort in game two. Smith rounded out the offensive leaders for Navy in the contest, posting his second go-ahead RBI single in the last two games, along with scoring a run.
 
In his second start of the season for the Mids, Mitchell opened game two by retiring six of the first seven batters he faced. However, Central Connecticut State struck first in game two, bringing home a run and its' lone score of the day on a fielder's choice in the top of the third to take a 1-0 lead.
 
That would be all the damage against Mitchell on the afternoon, who stranded three runners on base over the next two innings, leading to Navy striking back with a run of its own in the bottom of the third as Diaz came home to score following a throwing error, tying the game at 1-1.
 
The contest would remain tied through the top of the sixth inning, as Mitchell was relieved by Ward who retired six of the first seven hitters he faced, striking out two.
 
On the back of the effort by Ward and Mitchell, Navy tallied three runs on three hits in the top of the sixth against Blue Devils' reliever Randy Reyes (0-1) that included a go-ahead RBI single by Smith before Keller added an run-scoring single of his own and Diaz scored on a wild pitch to extend the Navy advantage to 4-1.
 
The three-run lead proved to be more than enough for the pairing of Ward and Kruer who combined to retire nine of the final 12 CCSU batters, including Kruer's second save of the season, to secure a 4-1 victory and a split of Saturday's doubleheader for the Midshipmen.

UP NEXT
The Mids and Blue Devils are slated to square off in the rubber match of the three-games series Sunday. First pitch of the contest is scheduled for 1 p.m. from Max Bishop Stadium.