ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Backed by a career-high 7.2 innings from freshman Brady Bendik and its offense taking advantage of several defensive miscues, the Navy baseball team (17-11, 8-3 PL) held on for a 6-3 victory over Lafayette (6-20, 2-5 PL) on Easter Sunday to sweep the weekend series at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
With Bendik keeping the Leopards off the board until the eighth inning, the Midshipmen clung to 1-0 lead for most of the contest following fellow freshman Andrew Manning's first-inning RBI single, but the Mids' aggressive offense forced several Lafayette errors in the seventh and eighth innings, helping Navy extend its lead and complete the three-game sweep.
 
Navy jumped out to an early lead as senior Zane Raba was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the first and got to second off a balk, setting up Manning to drive him in on a line-drive single into right field and open the scoring.
 
With Bendik facing the minimum number of batters over the first six innings before stranding a leadoff walk in the seventh, the Leopards got their own pitching gem from the combination of Tristan Helmick and Luke Craytor for the first six innings. Helmick went four frames before Craytor took over for 2.2 innings, with all eight of his outs coming via the strikeout.
 
The Mids finally got to Craytor in the seventh, kickstarted by a leadoff double from senior Eduardo Diaz and two-out walk by Manning. With two on, freshman Evan Brown then put a ball in play right in front of the plate, leading to a throwing error and Diaz scoring, while sophomore Victor Izquierdo then poked a two-run double down the third-base line off the new Lafayette pitcher, Adam Bogosian, to give Navy a 4-0 edge.
 
Lafayette was able to finally break through in the eighth, using two single and a walk to load the bases with two outs for Ethan Swidler, who rocketed a single that was sneered by sophomore Brock Murtha to hold the Leopards to just one run on the play. A wild pitch later allowed Luke Caucci to score and a Navy throwing error brought Matt Colella in, but junior Landon Kruer then struck out Ben Petrone to preserve the lead.
 
Getting two runs back in the bottom of the eighth, Navy saw Raba get hit by a pitch and then swipe two bases on three pitches, allowing him to easily score on Diaz's chopping single over the infield, while another Lafayette error later in the frame allowed senior Logan Keller to race home and make it 6-3. Kruer then closed the book on his second save of the weekend and the series sweep by retiring the Leopards in order in the ninth.
 
Bendik finished his day needing just 82 pitches to go 7.2 innings and earn his fifth win of the season, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks while punching out a career-high five batters. Kruer finished with a four-out save, recording one strikeout and posting saves on back-to-back days for the second-straight weekend.
 
Helmick got the loss after allowing one run on three hits over four innings, while Craytor allowed three unearned runs over his 2.2 innings and issuing four walks to his eight strikeouts. Bogosian and Mason Koczwara (two runs allowed) then both lasted 0.1 innings and Joey Pence got the final two outs for the Leopards.
 
Coach Chuck Ristano Comments
"Today was a great team win. When you struggle to get the bats going, it takes a special effort from someone to keep the game under control. Brady was in total control and that performance is the type that you'd expect from someone who is three or four years into their college baseball experience. I am very encouraged by the maturity of both him and a lot of the younger guys at this point in the season."
 
When Lafayette broke through in the eighth inning and took some momentum, I loved the poise in our dugout. We knew that we still had the lead and that we were going to get the chance to hit again. It was great to watch Raba create that run with a hit-by-pitch and two consecutive stolen bases."
 
"All three of the games this weekend were won in a different way, and our guys' level of focus and intensity carried us through. We have a tough April ahead of us with a lot of games on the road and we need to keep bringing this level of play to the field every day. I hope everyone has a happy Easter."
 
Game Notes
• Navy improved to 103-50-2 in the all-time series with Lafayette, extending its winning streak over the Leopards to five-straight games.
• This marked the first weekend sweep of the season for the Mids and their first sweep since taking a three-game series at home over Holy Cross on April 8-9, 2023.
• Sunday was also Navy's first weekend sweep of Lafayette since the 2019 season.
• Bendik's 7.2 innings is the longest start by a Navy freshman pitcher since Noah Song had an 8.1-inning start at Bucknell on May 15, 2016 and a nine-inning complete game against NJIT on March 20, 2016.
• Raba's 18 steals this season are the most by a Navy player since Robert Currie's 26 stolen bases in 2014.
• Manning and Murtha both extended their hitting streaks to 10 games.
• Izquierdo now leads the team with nine multi-RBI games.
 
Up Next
Navy begins a five-game road swing on April 3, heading to UMBC for a 6 p.m. contest.