BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Finishing off its final regular-season Patriot League series on Monday afternoon, the Navy baseball team (22-23, 14-11 PL) used a 12-hit effort by the offense and the third-straight one-run outing by the pitching staff to post a 14-1 victory over Lehigh (20-25, 7-14 PL) in a run-rule-shortened game at J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park.
 
With the win, the Midshipmen secured a tie for second place in the league standings and the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Championship, setting up a semifinal series at second-seeded Bucknell in two weeks. Locking up its postseason destination, Navy got another strong start from Matthew Shirah for five innings, while Alex Smith's three hits paced a lineup that saw four different Mids rack up multi-hit performances.
 
After Navy left the bases loaded in the top of the first, Lehigh was able to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second when Tyler Young drove in Rafe Perich on a bases-loaded groundout, but Shirah escaped further danger by striking out Dom Patrizi and held the Mountain Hawks to just three base-runners over his final three frames of work.
 
The Mids started to click offensively in the fourth, as Logan Keller, Brock Murtha and Brian Furey all reached to load the bases with two down, and Ivan Aguirre was able to coax out the bases-loaded walk to push across Keller for Navy's first run of the game. With Lehigh starter Teddy Tolliver exiting the game, Nick Burch then ripped a two-run double out to right field off reliever Cole Leaman to make it 3-1 Navy.
 
Kyle Rausch started another big inning for Navy in the fifth, doubling in Alex Smith with no out, while Colin Smith followed two batters later by putting a three-run shot out to left field for his fourth home run of the season, extending the Mids' edge to 7-1.
 
Burch led off the sixth with his league-leading fifth double of the season, coming in on an Alex Smith single to ignite a seven-run inning for Navy. Murtha added a two-run single later in the frame, while a Lehigh error and a bases-loaded walk to Burch were followed by another two-run single, this time from Eduardo Diaz, giving the Mids a 14-1 advantage.
 
Taking over for Shirah in the sixth, Thomas Russell faced the minimum in his two innings of relief as the right-hander allowed just one hit but negated it one batter later with a double-play ball.
 
Shirah finished his outing by logging his fourth win of the campaign, striking out four while allowing just four hits and one walk, while Russell registered one strikeout in his two frames out of the bullpen.
 
Tolliver was the first of six Lehigh pitchers used, taking the loss and being on the hook for three runs in 3.2 innings of work, while Leaman and Ryan Deom both allowed three runs before Najir Glenn gave up five runs (one earned). Will Grisack followed by lasting two batters and Marcus Danchision collected the final four outs for the Mountain Hawks.
 
Paul Kostacopoulos Postgame Comments
"It was very solid baseball played on our part all weekend. Losing that 1-0 seven-inning game was tough in game one, but we really bounced back in game two and then we played a complete game today as far as offense, defense and pitching to finish with the series win."
 
"We did a good job of getting guys on base and I think this was one of the better jobs that we did at getting them in. We didn't chase, we didn't get ourselves out and when they kept trying to nibble away we stayed off of it, drew some walks and got some big hits, like Colin Smith having a big three-run homer when it was 4-1. Overall, No. 1 through No. 9 in our order did a good job with their approaches."
 
"We have really tough non-conference opponents this week with George Mason out of the A10 and Elon, who is having a fabulous year in the CAA. We're going to have to get back to work, and I think it's good because we need to compete at the highest level we can to get ready for the postseason."
 
"I preach this all the time, you got to compete well in the league and we tied for second place this year. We lost in the tiebreaker as far as seeding goes, but Bucknell is a really good team. We're going to have to play well and we've seen them already five times, so there's no real mystery to what they do or what we do. So, we just got to go up and play good baseball next week."
 
Game Notes
• Navy now has a 98-53 edge in the all-time series with Lehigh.
• This marks Navy's first weekend series win at Lehigh since 2019.
• With two more double plays turned Monday, the Mids now lead the Patriot League with 40 doubles plays on defense this season.
• Monday was Shirah's fifth-straight start going five-or-more innings, holding opponents to three runs-or-less in all five of those outings.
• Shirah has not allowed more than six hits in a start all season.
• Diaz and Murtha both extended their on-base streaks to 14 games
• Alex Smith has tallied multiple hits in three of his last four games.
• With Colin Smith hitting his fourth home run of the year to tie Rausch and Alex Smith, Navy has now had back-to-back seasons in which three Mids hit four-or-more homers.
 
Up Next
Navy hosts George Mason in the Mids' final midweek game of the season on Wednesday, May 3. First pitch is set for 5 p.m. from Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.