ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A gritty start from right-hander Thomas Russell and a dominant bullpen performance propelled the Navy baseball team (4-7) to a 6-4 victory on Sunday afternoon at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium, as the Midshipmen avoided the weekend sweep and handed the Minutemen their first loss of 2023.
 
Russell combined with relievers Reece Early and Landon Kruer for 10 strikeouts, as the trio held UMass to just eight hits, while Anthony Fiallo and Colin Smith each had a two-run knock to carry the Navy offense.
 
UMass struck first on Sunday, as Zack Zaetta singled to start the game before stealing second to put himself in scoring position for a two-out double by Mike Gervasi. The Mids answered in the bottom of the first when Eduardo Diaz tripled to the left-center gap and Logan Keller lifted a sacrifice fly to right field four pitches later to bring Diaz home.
 
UMass briefly retook the lead in the second on the first of three hits from Steve Luttazi, as the Minutemen designated hitter pulled a line-drive solo home run to right field, but Navy jumped back in front during the home half of the inning when Kyle Rausch was plunked and Brock Murtha doubled, setting up Fiallo to plate both runners with a single through the middle.
 
Navy tacked on three more runs in the third, as the first three batters reached to load the bases before a Murtha fielder's choice and two-run double by Smith extended the Mids' edge to 6-2.
 
The Minutemen cut the lead to 6-4 in the fifth when a Navy throwing error allowed one run to score and a Nolan Tichy sac fly brought home another, but Russell got Gervasi to pop up to strand the tying run on base.
 
Despite the UMass bullpen limiting Navy to just one hit over the final five innings, Navy matched the pitching performance as Early went 3-plus innings and struck out four before handing the ball off to Kruer for the final three outs in the ninth inning after allowing a leadoff single. Kruer then induced a 4-6-3 double play before fanning Zaetta to earn his first save of the year.
 
Russell ended his day with a career-high five innings and matching his career best of five strikeouts, picking up his first win of the season after allowing just two earned runs on five hits. UMass starter Tyler Dalton suffered the loss with six runs allowed on five hits in two-plus innings on the mound.
 
Paul Kostacopoulos Postgame Comments
"What a difference a day makes. We got timely hits today, played really good defense and pitched it well. Just a much better effort today and another really good baseball game, as the first and third games in series were really good games, having quick pace to them and were well played. Balls were put in play, people were throwing strikes and that's a good game."
 
Game Notes
• Navy leads the all-time series with UMass, 7-4.
• Early's four strikeouts matched a career high, while his three fames of work are the most by the righty since a 4.2-inning outing on March 20, 2022 at Bucknell.
• For Kruer, Sunday marked his eighth career save, tying him for seventh in program history with Mark Bumgardner (1973-75).
• Diaz extended his hit streak to five games and his on-base streak to 11 contests, while Alex Smith continued his hitting streak to sit at four-straight contests with a base-hit.
• The Mids' batters only struck out three times on Sunday, marking a season-low for Navy.
 
Up Next
Navy makes the short trip to Washington, D.C., on Wedneday, March 8 for a rematch with Georgetown. First pitch between the Mids and Hoyas is slated for 3 p.m. at the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy.