LEWISBURG, Pa. – With sophomore Tyler Grenn and Landon Kruer combining to allow just two hits, the Navy baseball team (9-8, 1-0 PL) picked up a 2-0 shutout win over Bucknell (6-10, 0-1 PL) in its Patriot League opener on Friday afternoon at Depew Field.
 
Grenn's dominant performance of 7.2 scoreless innings was backed up by Kruer closing the door with his program-best 17th career save, while sacrifice flies from junior Jack Finnigan and sophomore Brock Murtha provided all the offense the Mids needed to pick up their first league win and end a six-game losing streak to the Bison.
 
After allowing a leadoff double in the first inning, Grenn retired the next 10 batters he faced, setting up Navy to take the lead in the fourth inning when walks to freshman Andrew Manning and senior Lehnertz were followed by sophomore Victor Izquierdo's single to load the bases. Working a full count, Finnigan then lifted a sacrifice fly into left field that let Manning tag up and score.
 
Pitching his way out of a little jam in the fourth inning, Grenn went on to retire 10-straight Bison again to reach the eighth inning, where a leadoff triple by senior Logan Keller helped the Mids add a bit of insurance when Murtha followed with sacrifice fly to center field, giving Navy a 2-0 edge.
 
Running into trouble with two runners on in the bottom of the eighth after an error to start the frame, Grenn got the second out of the inning by getting Jacob Corson swinging, while Kruer came in to face Sean Keys, inducing a pop fly to end the threat. Kruer then worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning to close out the victory and pick up his first save of the season.
 
Grenn finished his day with four strikeouts in his 7.2 innings, allowing just two hits and one hit-by-pitch to earn the win, while Kruer retired all four batters he faced in 1.1 innings.
 
Tyler O'Neill got the loss for Bucknell, allowing one run on six hits over a six-inning start, while Jonathan Adelmann gave up one run on two hits in his two frames and Connor Vucovich allowed one hit while pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
 
Coach Chuck Ristano Comments
"The story of the day was clearly Tyler Grenn. Any time he needed to make a big pitch, he made it and it was great to see him and Kruer in total control of the game. I thought we swung the bats well against a very good arm and, while we only scratched two runs across, I liked the look of our at-bats. Very proud of the effort from our group."
 
Game Notes
• Navy improved to 95-83-1 in the all-time series with Bucknell, as the Mids captured their first victory in Lewisburg since March 20, 2022.
• Friday marked the first shutout for Navy since a 5-0 win over Army on April 24, 2022.
• The last time Navy held an opponent to two-or-less hits was a 4-0 two-hit shutout against Longwood on May 5, 2019.
• The last Patriot League opponent to have two-or-less hits off Navy pitching was the Mids' 3-0 on-hitter against Army on April 20, 2019.
• Kruer's 17 career saves are tied with Trey Braithwaite and JD Melton for the most in program history.
• Grenn's 7.2 innings are the most for a Navy starter since Nate Mitchell logged eight frames at Holy Cross on April 2, 2023.
• The last Navy pitcher to throw 7.2-or-more shutout innings was Noah Song against Lafayette on May 11, 2019 in the league semifinal round.
• Navy has now won four of its last five Patriot League openers.
• Senior Zane Raba has back-to-back multi-hit games.
• Murtha extended his on-base streak to 18 games while Izquierdo extended his own on-base streak to 16-straight contests.
 
Up Next
Navy and Bucknell continue the four-game series Saturday afternoon, as the two teams will play a doubleheader starting at noon from Depew Field.