ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Despite a high-scoring loss to end the weekend, the Navy baseball team notched the series win over Princeton on Sunday afternoon with a 6-5 victory in the seven-inning first game, before falling, 22-12, in the nine-inning nightcap at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
Leading the way for the Midshipmen in the doubleheader was sophomore Brock Murtha with three hits and three RBI, reaching base six times and stealing two bags over the two games, while Brady Bendik held the Tigers in check in the opener by allowing just two earned runs across 5.1 innings, earning his second victory in just his second career start.
 
Game One Recap
With Bendik keeping Princeton off the board for the first five innings, Navy's offense got going in the third inning when three-straight two-out singles from seniors Eduardo Diaz and Logan Keller and Murtha brought Diaz in for the first run of the game.
 
The Mids got back to work the next inning, as a leadoff double from sophomore Victor Izquierdo and a passed ball allowed senior Anthony Fiallo to plate Izquierdo on a fielder's choice, while senior Zane Raba then drove in fellow senior Hudson Lehnertz three pitches later on a single to the right side. Keller added on later in the frame by singling in Fiallo and Murtha then punched a two-run single down the third-base line right after to give Navy a 6-0 lead.
 
Princeton finally got to Bendik in the sixth, as Nick DiPietrantonio led off with a single and raced home on the next pitch when Jake Bold doubled him in. The Tigers then got two more runs off a Jake Koonin double, while Koonin advanced to third on a throw and scored shortly after on a Jake Kernodle groundout to cut the Navy edge to 6-4.
 
DiPietrantonio then made it a one-run game in the seventh and final inning, homering with two outs to dead-center, while Bold singled to put the tying run on, but senior Nolan Jorgenson got Kyle Vinci swinging to seal the game one win and the series victory.
 
Getting the win in 5.1 frames, Bendik finished with three runs (two earned) on six hits but struck out five, while Jorgenson allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits over his 1.2 innings and notched two strikeouts.
 
Sean Episcope suffered the loss by allowing six runs (one earned) on eight hits over four frames, and Patrick Jarvis held Navy hitless in his two innings of relief despite giving five free bases.
 
Game Two Recap
With the two sides combining for 34 runs overall and 28 runs in just the first five innings, Sunday's nightcap got started with a bang courtesy of a Bold two-run home run in the top of the first inning. Navy wasted no time responding, as a Keller RBI single that scored Raba in the bottom of the first kicked off a seven-run inning for the Mids. Back-to-back hit-by-pitches and a walk all with the bases loaded plated three more runs, while a wild pitch and a Raba RBI single helped grow the Navy lead to 7-2.
 
Princeton cut the lead to 7-4 in the second when Kernodle tripled, Kaden Kram doubled and Jay Mentink singled to start the inning, but Navy got a run back in the home half of the frame thanks to a two-out single from Lehnertz scoring Izquierdo. Four consecutive singles by the Tigers and Kram's sacrifice fly in the third plated three more runs, while Princeton finally retook the advantage in the fourth inning with a six-run frame that included a Vinci triple and four singles from the rest of the order.
 
With Princeton adding on five more runs in the fifth on back-to-back two-run doubles from Koonin and Caden Shapiro and an RBI single by Bold, Navy tried to start a rally in the bottom of the inning when senior Brian Furey led off with a single, freshman Tyler Bouchard drove him home on a triple and Raba plated Bouchard on a sacrifice fly. An RBI groundout for Furey in the sixth and a run-scoring single from rookie Evan Brown in the seventh helped bring Navy within six runs, but Vinci's solo homer in the eighth and DiPietrantonio three-run shot in the ninth swelled the Tigers' lead back to 10 runs by the end of the contest.
 
With sophomore Jackson Beattie going 2.1 innings in the start, Navy used four relievers in the nightcap, highlighted by freshman Evan Foster going a career-high 4.1 innings and holding Princeton to one run over the first 3.2 frames he pitched while striking out five Tigers.
 
For Princeton, starter Rich Ferrer-Westrop was unable to make it out of the first inning, but Will Sword got the win after shutting Navy down for most of his 4.2 innings while Elliot Eaton notched the save by holding the Mids to two runs in four frames.
 
Game Notes
• Navy is now 72-53 in the all-time series with Princeton, but Sunday's nightcap snapped a six-game winning streak the Mids had over the Tigers.
• Bendik's 5.1 innings and five strikeouts were both career highs.
• Navy matched its season high by recording four stolen bases in each of the team's three games against Princeton.
• Navy's two doubles in the nightcap were a season high.
• Murtha extended his on-base streak to 16 games and his hit streak to nine games.
• Izquierdo extended his on-base streak to 14 games.
• Sunday's second game marked the first career start for Bouchard.
 
Up Next
Navy will start a six-game road trip on Tuesday, March 12 when it heads to Dover, Del., for a 3 p.m. first pitch against Delaware State.