ANNAPOLIS, Md. – With home runs powering half of its offense for the day, the Navy baseball team split its Saturday afternoon doubleheader with rival Army to start the 2025 Star Series, with the Midshipmen holding on for a 4-3 win in the opener before having their rally fall short in the nightcap's 5-4 loss at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
Highlighted by freshman Ty DePerno's two-run homer as part of a three-hit performance in game one, the Midshipmen then saw sophomore Andrew Manning provide his own two-run shot in the second game to help propel Navy to a near-comeback but the Black Knights Andrew Berg went 8.1 innings to back up an Army lineup that pounded out 13 hits in the back half of the twin-bill. Part of the all-sport 2024-25 Star Series presented by USAA, Saturday's split means the two sides will battle Sunday for the baseball star.

Game One Recap
With sophomore starter Brady Bendik retiring 12 of the first 13 Black Knights he faced, Navy opened the scoring in the second inning when singles by DePerno and sophomore Evan Brown put two on for Army's first throwing error, which allowed DePerno to race home from second base, while another Army throwing error on the next pitch plated Brown to make it 2-0 Mids.
 
After sophomore Jack Killelea drew a two-out walk in the third, DePerno made Army pay two pitches later when he deposited a ball off the scoreboard in left field, extending the Navy edge to 4-0.
 
Army finally broke up the shutout in the fifth inning when a walk, failed pickoff and a single put John McKillop on third base for Zac Farrell's sacrifice fly, while a Mark Abell single up the middle later in the frame drove in Coleson Titus to cut the Mids' lead to 4-2.
 
Stranding Navy runners at the corners in the bottom of the fifth, Army made it a one-run game in the sixth, as William Parker doubled to lead off and came in on McKillop's double two batters later, but senior closer Landon Kruer then retired the next five Black Knights, including inducing a 3-6 double play to end the seven-inning game.
 
Bendik finished with two runs allowed in five innings, striking out four to notch his first win of the season, while Kruer gave up one run and struck out two in his two frames to record his second save of the campaign.
 
For Army, Justin Lehman pitched the six-inning complete game, allowing four runs (two earned) while striking out three Mids.
 
Game Two Recap
Army came out the gates hot in the nightcap, as the first two Black Knights reached base safely to start the game before Parker doubled home Chris Barr and Lehman lifted a sacrifice fly to score Addison Ainsworth and create an early 2-0 Army edge. Answering right back in the bottom of the first, a one-out double by junior Brock Murtha was followed by Manning driving his first pitch from Berg over the right-center fence, tying it at 2-2.
 
With Berg and Navy junior Tyler Grenn both settling in on the mound, Army eventually struck again in the fourth inning when a two-out double from Barr plated Titus and gave the lead back to the Black Knights, while Ainsworth's two-run single right after widened the advantage to 5-2.
 
Berg then tossed five more scoreless frames, while the Navy bullpen of juniors Jackson Beattie and Adyn Lucero and senior Liam Golden matched his zeros by leaving Army runners in scoring position to end the fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth innings, keeping the deficit at three heading into the bottom of the ninth.
 
Killelea and DePerno continued their hot streaks with back-to-back doubles in the ninth, scoring Killelea, while another Army throwing error on DePerno's double put him on third base for junior Victor Izquierdo's RBI groundout, cutting the Army lead to 5-4. Brown then singled to bring the winning run to the plate, but Robbie Penswick got the game-ending strikeout to pick up the save and even the series heading into Sunday.
 
Berg wrapped up his career-best 8.1-inning outing by striking out eight and walking none, allowing just three earned runs to register the victory, while Penswick earned his second save of the year with his two-out appearance.
 
For Grenn, he suffered the loss after allowing five runs in 4.1 innings, but Beattie followed with two strikeouts in 2.2 shutout innings, Lucero went 1.1 scoreless frames and Golden retired both Army batters he faced.
 
Coach Chuck Ristano Comments
"These games reach a level of intensity that is hard to articulate. Two wildly competitive groups that are scratching and clawing for every pitch. This is without question the most special rivalry in college athletics … in every sport. The atmosphere, having our alumni there, wearing the Jolly Rogers uniform, it all made for a very special day for our program."
 
"It was great to take game one but, obviously, I'm disappointed that we couldn't finish the job. There were some really good individual performances throughout the day, but admittedly the only thing on our mind is going 1-0 tomorrow and bringing the star back to Annapolis. I'm proud of the fight we showed at the end of game two but we came up short."
 
"It's unique to play a series of this magnitude in March, but that's part of what makes this series so special. We justifiably treat this series like a championship and will empty the tank tomorrow to do whatever it takes to find ourselves on the winning end. The guys can feel how close we are and desperately want to write their names into this chapter of the rivalry."
 
Game Notes
• Army now leads Navy, 134-132, in the all-time series.
• Saturday broke a streak of three-straight quality starts for Grenn.
• Kruer's save in game one puts him at 27 for his career, one shy of matching the Patriot League record.
• Killelea has recorded a hit in each of his seven games this season since returning from injury.
• Brown enters Sunday on an eight-game hit streak
• Izquierdo had an 11-game on-base streak snapped in Saturday's nightcap.
• Saturday's opener ended a nine-game streak for Navy of stealing at least one base per game.
• Saturday's nightcap was only the second time this season the Mids have gone without drawing a walk.
 
Up Next
Navy and Army will battle for the star in Sunday's series finale, with first pitch moved up to 11 a.m. due to forecasted rain in Annapolis later in the day.