COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Trailing by three entering the top of the ninth, the Navy baseball team (19-26) rallied with two runs on one hit to reduce the Georgetown (27-19) advantage to just one run. However, the Mids' comeback attempt would fall just short as the tying run was stranded on third to end the contest, securing a 7-6 decision in favor of the Hoyas Wednesday night at Maryland's Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium.
 
"After they hit a couple of guys in the ninth, I thought that was a really good opportunity for us to go ahead," said head coach Paul Kostacopoulos of Navy's bid for a comeback in the ninth. "We just weren't able to come through with that big hit, that's been an issue for us all year. That competitive situation where we need a big hit, that spot where we need to make something happen, we just haven't been able to do that well. It's something we really need to address, you can't win baseball games if you aren't able to come through in those spots."
 
Zach Stevens (Sr., Lexington, Mass.) led the way for the Midshipmen offense against Georgetown, going 2-for-4 with two home runs, two RBIs and two runs scored. Colin Smith (Jr., Wilmington, Del.) added a 2-for-4 showing of his own that included an RBI single, while the duo of Nick Burch (Jr., Hollywood, Md.) and Alex Smith (Jr., Laguna Hills, Calif.) added two hits apiece to round out the top-offensive performers for Navy on Wednesday.
 
"Zach (Stevens) had a good night for us, it was good to see him swing the bat well," said Kostacopoulos on the senior first baseman. "Other guys chipped in early, but then we seemed to get into a bit of a lull. We had a chance at the end to tie the ballgame up but just fell a little short."
 
With his two-home run outing on Wednesday night, Stevens moved into a tie for sixth place on Navy's career home runs list with 16 career long flies. The senior now sits just one home run shy of tying Andy Loferski (1981-83) for the fifth-most home runs for a career in program history (17).
 
Zach Powers (So., Centreville, Md.) made his second start of the season Wednesday, allowing four runs on two hits over two innings of work. The sophomore then gave way to Zach Ward (So., Mokena, Ill.) who took his second loss of the season (1-2) after yielding a run on two hits in two innings. Landon Kruer (Fr., Sellersburg, Ind.) highlighted the Navy effort on the mound, pitching two scoreless innings and striking out a pair of batters.
 
"I thought that Landon (Kruer) threw really well tonight," said Kostacopoulos on the effort of the newcomer. "He gave us a two-inning stint, which he isn't typically asked to do. He's continued to get better and better as a pitcher throughout the season. Colin Jones was great for us tonight and Nolan (Jorgenson) also gave us what he had. Those three did their jobs tonight for us."
 
The Navy offense jumped out to a fast start to open play against Georgetown starting pitcher Matthew Sapienza, totaling two runs on four hits to take a 2-0 lead in the first. The highlight of the frame came with two outs, as Eduardo Diaz (So., Miami, Fla.) ripped an RBI double down the left-field line, prior to Logan Keller (So., Longwood, Fla.) lacing an RBI single to left in the next at-bat.
 
Despite their fast start, the Midshipmen lead would quickly be erased in the home half of the first as Evan Stern sent a long fly over the left-field wall, tying the game at 2-2. However, Navy would respond with a long ball of its own in the second as Stevens launched his third home run of the season that put the Mids back in front of the Hoyas at 3-2.
 
The back-and-forth affair and jostling for an advantage continued into the bottom of the third, as Stern homered for the second time in as many at-bats to give Georgetown a two-run lead at 5-3 over the Mids, prior to Stevens recording his second home run of the contest to lead off the fourth which cut the Hoyas' advantage back to just one run.
 
After trading blows through the first four innings of play, both offenses would be held quiet through the next three frames. Navy would be limited to just one hit over that span by the GU relief trio of Andrew Williams, Jack Weeks and Anthony Redfern. The Hoyas' offense managed just two hits over the middle innings, as Kruer retired six of the nine batters he faced before being relieved by Colin Jones (Sr., Collierville, Tenn.) in the seventh. The senior left-hander matched the effort of Kruer in his lone inning of work, striking out two of three batters in a 1-2-3 frame that maintained the Navy deficit at just one run.
 
Following a hitless top of the eighth by the Midshipmen, the Georgetown offense came back to life in the bottom of the inning, taking a 7-4 lead after scoring two runs on four hits against Nolan Jorgenson (So., Eastvale, Calif.).
 
Trailing by three runs entering the top of the ninth, Navy refused to go quietly as a leadoff walk by Zane Raba (So., San Antonio, Texas) and back-to-back hit by pitches of Hudson Lehnertz (So., Santa Ana, Calif.) and Burch loaded the bases without an out. Following a Georgetown pitching change, Colin Smith brought home a run on a groundout to reduce the GU lead to two runs, prior to Lehnertz scoring on a passed ball just moments later to cut the Hoyas' advantage to just one.
 
Despite its best efforts, including pushing the tying run to third on a two-out infield single by Alex Smith, the Navy rally attempt in the ninth would fall just short as Ayden Head forced a pop-out that ended the game and secured a 7-6 decision in favor of the Georgetown over the Midshipmen.
 
Weeks (2-0) earned his second win of the season for GU after pitching two hitless innings in relief, while Head earned his third save after extinguishing the Navy rally attempt. Stern led the way for the Hoyas on offense, going 2-for-5 with the aforementioned two home runs, along with scoring a pair of runs and driving in a game-high five RBIs.
 
UP NEXT
Navy is slated to return to action 5 p.m. Saturday as it returns home to take on William & Mary, prior to a matchup against Radford on Sunday at noon in its regular-season finale. Max Bishop Stadium is also scheduled to play host to a pair of games between the Highlanders and Tribe, including a 6 p.m. contest on Friday and a 1 p.m. tilt on Saturday.