LEWISBURG, Md. – Bouncing back after dropping the first game of the doubleheader, 5-2, the Navy baseball team (10-9, 2-1 PL) used contributions from its freshmen to post an 8-2 win over Bucknell (7-11, 1-2 PL) in the nightcap Saturday afternoon at Depew Field.
 
After falling in Saturday's opener despite three hits from senior Eduardo Diaz and complete game by senior Matthew Shirah, the Midshipmen turned it on right away in the second game of the day when freshman Andrew Manning launched a first-inning three-run home run to spark an offense that backed up six scoreless innings from fellow freshman Brady Bendik and saw senior Logan Keller and sophomore Brock Murtha both tally multi-hit performances.
 
Game One Recap
Navy fell into an early hole when Jacob Corson pulled a leadoff home run on the first pitch he saw from Shirah in the bottom of the first, while the second inning saw Michael Trommer triple in the right-center gap and advance home seconds later on a balk to make it 2-0.
 
A leadoff single from Diaz in the top of the third kickstarted a two-run inning for the Mids, as Diaz and sophomore Brock Murtha took advantage of two wild pitches and a pair of throwing errors in the frame to come around and score, tying the game. Bucknell quickly responded in the bottom of the third when a single by Andrew Swenson was followed by Sean Keys' no-doubt homer, putting the Bison back in front, 4-2. Nick Adamo then tacked on another Bucknell run in the sixth when his sacrifice fly brought Tyler Dunn in, extending the lead to 5-2, while Diaz was left stranded in the top of the seventh to thwart a Navy comeback.
 
Throwing a complete game but suffering the loss, Shirah allowed five runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out five.
 
Getting the win, Jack O'Malley went six innings for the Bison and held Navy to two unearned runs on five hits while racking up nine strikeouts. Nick Mulvey then relieved him for the seventh, getting two strikeouts to earn the save.
 
Game Two Recap
The Mids got on the board right away in the first inning, as two-out singles from senior Logan Keller and Murtha brought up freshman Andrew Manning, who launched a 435-foot home run to right center to give Navy a 3-0 advantage.
 
With Bendik pitching scoreless frames in the first three innings, Navy added insurance in the fourth as Murtha doubled to start the frame, advancing on a groundout and then sprinting home on a sacrifice fly from Evan Brown. Bendik then had to work around a pair of baserunners in the bottom of the fourth, before holding Bucknell to one baserunner over the next two innings.
 
The Navy offense doubled its lead in the seventh, as a fielding error got Brown on, senior Zane Raba walked and sophomore Victor Izquierdo was hit by a pitch to load the bases, while sophomore Mac McCommons was also plunked to bring home a run and a Diaz grounder scored another. Capping off the inning was senior Hudson Lehnertz, who snuck a single through the left side to plate a pair of runners and make it 8-0.
 
Three-straight base hits to lead off the bottom of the seventh brought home Billy Kender to spoil the shutout, forcing Bendik from the game. Taking over for his classmate, freshman reliever Evan Foster induced a run-scoring groundout before snagging a line-drive comebacker and getting another ground ball to end the game.
 
Bendik finished his day with a career-high six-plus innings of work and the winning decision, being on the hook for two runs on seven hits but striking out three and walking none. Foster then used 12 pitches to get the final three outs for his first appearance in league play.
 
Mikey Myro was handed the loss after going five innings and striking out five for Bucknell but allowing four runs on four hits, while Dante Pavone surrendered four unearned runs over 1.2 innings and Dylan Redtke got the final out of the seventh for the Bison.
 
Coach Chuck Ristano Comments
"After a tough first game, it was great to jump out early. Two outs, no one on and we had three great at-bats in succession to take the lead. Bendik was outstanding again and gave us exactly what we needed, while it was great to see us separate a bit in the seventh inning. I'm very proud of the bounce back from our guys."
 
Game Notes
• Navy is now 96-84-1 in the all-time series with Bucknell.
• Diaz's three hits in the first game were a season high for the shortstop, while Manning's three RBI in the nightcap matched his career high from Feb. 17 at Elon.
• Murtha's 18-game on-base streak was snapped in Saturday's first game, while Izquierdo was able to extend his on-base streak to 18-straight contests by reaching safely in both games on Saturday.
• Navy has only allowed two walks in the series with Bucknell so far, with both in Saturday's first game.
• Saturday's opener marked the first complete game of Shirah's collegiate career.
 
Up Next
Navy and Bucknell will close the weekend series on Sunday, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. at Depew Field.