CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A monumental task awaited the Navy baseball team on Opening Day and that task proved to be too much for the Midshipmen, as Navy (0-1) fell by a 24-5 score to No. 19 Virginia (1-0) on Friday afternoon from Davenport Field at Disharoon Park in Charlottesville, Virginia.
 
While the 19th-ranked Cavaliers were able to notch 20 hits, including four home runs, the visiting Mids got their own offense going to the tune of 10 hits. Seniors Nick Burch and Kyle Rausch, along with junior Logan Keller, all tallied multi-hit contests, but Navy could not overcome some early defensive miscues.
 
"Opening days are opening days," said head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "I thought one of the things that we took away today that was a real positive: our at-bats were really good. We didn't flush too many at-bats against a quality opponent. Unfortunately, we had the yips the first two or three innings. Of their first six runs, only one of them was earned. I expect that a little bit sometimes, that's going to happen, but they are a quality offensive team scoring 8.7 runs a game last season."
 
Senior Alex Smith recorded the first Navy hit of the year in the top of the first inning, but Virginia took an early lead in the bottom of the frame when a two-out error allowed Ethan O'Donnell and Casey Saucke to cross the plate, but freshman Brock Murtha prevented further damage when he made a diving play at second base to end the inning.
 
The Caveliers extended their early lead in the second with a Griff O'Ferrall sacrifice fly and a two-run homer from O'Donnell, while Preseason All-American Kyle Teel pulled a solo shot over the right-field fence in the third frame. Virginia continued their scoring ways into the fourth with an RBI double from Preseason All-American Jake Gelof and Suacke hitting a two-run shot to left-center in the next at-bat, making it 9-0 in favor of the Cavaliers.
 
Navy chipped away at the Virginia lead in the top of the fifth, as an infield single from Keller and a Rausch double down the left-field line set up junior Eduardo Diaz to drive in Keller for the Mids' first run of the season on a single through the left side, while senior Nick Burch put a single into right field two batters later to cut the deficit to 9-2. Virginia responded in the home half of the fifth with 14 runs, highlighted by a Harrison Didawick homer and five other Cavaliers tallying doubles in the frame.
 
"You learn so many lessons during the season," said Kostacopoulos. "One of the lessons that you learn is you've got to handle the baseball. When you play a good team, it's going to lead to big innings. Even in their big inning, there are three probably questionable balls to the outfield. Whether we could have caught them or not, we didn't catch them. I'm not saying they were bad plays, but if we make one of those plays, that's a different inning. So, you take away how precise this game needs to be played to play it at a high level."
 
Rausch continued to swing a hot bat in the visiting half of the sixth inning, roping a single to right field that brought across two more Navy runs after senior Kiel Brenczewski singled and Keller put a double into the gap earlier in the frame. Once again, Virginia answered later in the inning when Anthony Stephan singled home the 24th and final Cavalier run.
 
Navy tacked on one more run in the top of the seventh thanks to Burch ripping a one-out double and scoring one batter later on a Virginia fielding error. The game was called after the top of the seventh due to an agreed-upon 10-run rule by the coaches and umpires.
 
Picking up the win was Virginia starter Brian Edgington, as the right-hander racked up three strikeouts over 4.1 innings while allowing five hits and two earned runs. Senior righty Nate Mitchell was saddled with the losing decision after three frames of work, allowing just one earned run (five unearned) on five hits and recording one strikeout to one walk.
 
"We have two more really good teams this weekend, we're going to have to regroup and continually learn," added Kostacopoulos. "If you asked me what we're looking to do the next day, it is learn from today and apply it to tomorrow."
 
Notes
• Friday's result moves the Mids all-time season-opening record to 73-53-2, while head coach PaulKostacopoulos is now 11-7 in season openers with Navy.
• The Mids also saw their all-time record against Virginia shift to 10-17, as the Cavaliers extended their winning streak over Navy to eight games.
• In addition to Murtha, other players to make their Navy debuts on Friday were first baseman Victor Izquierdo, catcher Mac McCommons and right-handed pitcher Tyler Grenn.
• Senior Colin Smith had both his 20-game on-base streak and eight-game hit streaks spanned on Friday, but Burch carried over his hit streak into the new year and extended it to nine-straight games.
• Junior right-hander Nolan Jorgenson has now appeared out of the bullpen in each of the Mids' last three games, dating back to last season, while fellow junior righty Zach Ward has pitched in relief in three of the Mids' last four games.
• Keller has now played in 78 consecutive games for Navy since his debut in the 2021 season opener, while Diaz has played in 71-straight contests for the Mids.
 
Up Next
Due a delayed start between Ohio and UNCW to kick off the Hughes Bros. Challenge on Friday night, first pitch of the Navy-UNCW on Saturday evening (originally slated for 6 p.m.) has been moved up to 5 p.m. at Brooks Field in Wilmington, N.C. The Mids and Seahawks can be seen live on FloBaseball.