ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy baseball team (26-21) could not maintain its hot start in the opening game of the Patriot League Tournament's semifinal round, as Holy Cross (26-25) scored 10 unanswered runs to hand the Midshipmen a 10-5 defeat Saturday afternoon at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
Despite freshman Andrew Manning's three hits highlighting a day that saw four Mids tally multi-hit games and senior Nolan Jorgenson go a career-high six innings in relief, the Crusaders got three-RBI contests from Jack Toomey and Van Coughlin.
 
Navy came out swinging in the first inning with a five-run frame, as senior Hudson Lehnertz singled to start the bottom of the inning, then advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt and wild pitch before tagging up on a sacrifice fly from sophomore Victor Izquierdo to opening the scoring. A Manning line-drive single later brought in sophomore Brock Murtha, while a bases-loaded triple from senior Anthony Fiallo cleared the bases to make it 5-0.
 
Holy Cross started its comeback in the second via a two-out, two-run single from Coughlin, while Toomey's two-run home run in the third further cut the deficit to 5-4 after Alex Bryant stranded two Navy runners to end the second.
 
The third of four-straight singles to lead off the fourth, the Crusaders got an RBI bunt single from Coughlin to tie the game, while a Chris Baillargeon sacrifice fly scored Connor Cooney to hand Holy Cross the lead and a bases-loaded balk plated Coughlin to extend the edge to 7-5. Toomey then scored all the way from first on Alex Sandell's sixth-inning double.
 
After Holy Cross reliever Nick Harnisch entered in the seventh with the bases loaded for Navy and induced the inning-ending double play, the Crusaders got two more insurance runs in the eighth when Coughlin scored on a wild pitch and Toomey drove in Baillargeon on a single. Harnisch then retired six of the final seven Mids he faced to hand Holy Cross a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
 
Navy sophomore Tyler Grenn ended up getting the loss after exiting with an injury, allowing seven runs on seven hits over three-plus innings, while Jorgenson allowed two earned runs on two hits in his six innings out of the bullpen. For Bryant, he gave up five runs on 12 hits over 6.1 innings while striking out four to get the win, while Harnisch notched the 2.2-inning save by allowing just one hit.
 
Game Notes
• Navy is now 91-55 against Holy Cross in the all-time series.
• The Mids are 33-40 all-time in Patriot League Tournament games.
• Manning's three hits marked a career high for the rookie, giving him 15 multi-hit games this season.
• Murtha extended his on-base streak to 11 games.
 
Up Next
Navy will look to keep its season alive at 1 p.m. Sunday, as the Mids take on Holy Cross in the second game of the best-of-three Patriot League semifinal round. Game three of the series will follow 40 minutes upon the completion of the second semifinal game if necessary.