ELON, N.C. – Despite an Opening Day duel between aces through the first five innings, the Navy baseball team faltered late in a 10-2 loss to Elon on Friday evening at Latham Park.
 
In Chuck Ristano's first game as the Navy head coach, a two-hit performance from senior shortstop Eduardo Diaz and five strong innings from senior right-hander Matthew Shirah was not enough for the Midshipmen, as Elon's Justin Mitrovich limited Navy to just two hits over seven innings to compliment a three-hit day from Ryan Sprock and Vince Fattore's grand slam.
 
Elon struck first with two runs in the opening frame thanks to three-straight hits from Charlie Granatell, Sprock and Connor Offshack, but a double play limited the damage and Shirah struck out the side to bounce back in the second.
 
With Shirah shutting out the Phoenix over his final four innings, Diaz got the Mids on the board in the top of the sixth, blasting a solo homer to left field to lead off the frame.
 
The bottom of the sixth saw Elon widen the lead, as a two-run single from Tanner Holliman was followed by Alex Duffey's RBI single to make it 5-1 Phoenix, while a grand slam by Vince Fattore in the seventh swelled the lead to 9-1 in favor of Elon.
 
Diaz tried to start a Navy rally in the top of the eighth with his second hit of the day, but he was stranded and the Phoenix added another insurance run in the bottom of the inning off a Sprock double. Navy finally struck again with two outs in the ninth, as freshman Evan Brown doubled home fellow rookie Jack Killelea but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.
 
Shirah finished Friday with six strikeouts compared to two runs on five hits, allowing just one walk but suffering the loss, as fellow seniors Zach Ward (three runs in 0.1 innings) and Nolan Jorgenson (four runs in 1.2 innings) followed in relief. Freshman Ryan Bibb wrapped up the game by allowing one unearned run in an inning of work.
 
Mitrovich got the win with a seven-inning quality start, allowing two hits and one walk while striking out nine Mids, and Ben Sieracki closed It out by surrendering one run on two hits in two frames.
 
Coach Ristano Comments
"We ran into an outstanding arm today, as him and Shirah were toe-to-toe for the first five innings. Elon collectively did a great job of limiting base runners and really made it hard for us to find any offensive rhythm. In the late innings, we just gave away too many free bases and made it too easy for them to damage us and they took advantage. Ward and Jorgy will be just fine and I very much believe that they'll be great for us as this season evolves."
 
Game Notes
• Elon now leads the all-time series with Navy at 2-1.
• Shirah has now had nine career starts where he has gone five-or-more innings and allowed two-or-less runs.
• Diaz's home run is his first since a two-homer day at Maryland on April 26, 2022.
• Jorgenson has made a relief appearance in each of Navy's last three season openers.
 
Up Next
Navy and Elon are set to play the second game of the series at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Latham Park.