ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Claiming the program's first star series since 2021, the Navy baseball team (8-10, 2-1 PL) rallied from an early deficit to notch a 5-3 victory Sunday over archrival Army (5-11, 1-2 PL) at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
Ignited by sophomore Andrew Manning launching his second two-run home run in as many games, the Midshipmen built a two-run lead before handing the ball to their senior closer Landon Kruer, who shut down the Black Knights to earn his Patriot League-record 28th career save. The win also cut Army's lead in the all-sport 2024-25 Star Series presented by USAA to 11-9 with six star competitions remaining.
 
As freshman starter Kody Clancy and Army's Bryce Brownlee dueled early with matching zeros for the first three innings, the Black Knights had the opening salvo in the fourth inning, when a walk and a sacrifice bunt put William Parker on second for Jack Quinlan's RBI single, while John McKillop's double four pitches later knocked in Quinlan and extended the Army lead to 2-0.
 
After rookie southpaw Spencer Stephens induced the bases-loaded double play to escape danger in the top of the fifth, Navy loaded the bases itself right after in the bottom of the frame with sophomore Evan Brown's single, junior Henry Mitchell's walk and freshman Chris Klug's bloop single. A balk from Brownlee then allowed Brown to cruise home for the Mids' first run of the day.
 
With Stephens again stranding runners in scoring position in the sixth, a one-out walk to junior Victor Izquierdo in the home half brought up Manning, who pulled a 411-foot no-doubter into College Creek to give Navy its first lead of the game at 3-2.
 
A leadoff homer from Chris Barr to start the seventh quickly evened the score, but Stephens then got two big strikeouts to leave the go-ahead runner at second base. Another one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh, this time to Klug, preceded back-to-back singles from junior Brock Murtha and sophomore Jack Killelea, filling the bases for freshman sensation Ty DePerno. DePerno then ripped a single into left field, plating Klug and Murtha to regain the lead.
 
Coming on with two runners on and no outs in the eighth, Kruer fielded a sacrifice bunt, got a strikeout and forced a groundout to preserve the Mids' two-run advantage. The Navy stopper then came back out for the ninth, negated a leadoff single by inducing a 6-4-3 double play, and then struck out Lehman swinging to lock down the star in Annapolis.
 
Clancy went four innings while allowing two runs on four hits, striking out four Black Knights, before Stephens relieved him with three frames of one-run ball to pick up the win, while Kruer finished the two-out save by facing the minimum and adding two strikeouts on 20 pitches.
 
Brownlee lasted six innings and struck out seven but surrendered three runs on three hits. Trey Ates suffered the loss after giving up two runs in 0.1 innings, while Robbie Penswick pitched the final 1.2 frames for the visiting Black Knights.
 
Coach Chuck Ristano Comments
"I'm incredibly proud of our group. As expected, this was a hard-fought, white-knuckled three games with some really high-level baseball on display. There has not been a single day since last year's star series that I haven't thought about the gut punch of getting left on the field in the deciding game. I know I'm not the only one, and it was nice to see Landon put his cape on for us and lock down the two victories. His name is in the record books for a reason, and I'm so happy for him and our entire senior class. Those seniors have been through a lot of battles, and for them to get to etch their names into this rivalry's history is especially gratifying."
 
"I love the fact that we turned two very difficult double plays in the ninth inning of both wins. It's great to see our defense step up in those spots. For today, I felt like we kind of sleepwalked at the plate a bit until Manning homered, and it seemed to jolt us to life. I can't say enough about what DePerno is bringing to the table right now, and he's quickly becoming a pretty dangerous hitter. For Ty, Klug, Clancy and Stephens, it's a pretty tall order to ask for that type of contribution from a freshman in a game of this magnitude and they all found a way to deliver for us."
 
"There's no point in pretending that this is 'just another series'. It's not, and I'm so proud that we were able to see our way through the challenge and bring that star back to Annapolis. Great crowds and support all weekend from our fantastic fans. I'll remember today for the rest of my life."
 
Game Notes
• Navy closed Army's edge in the all-time series to 134-133 with Sunday's win.
• Navy's last time winning the baseball star at home came in 2016, when the Mids swept a four-game series against the Black Knights.
• Has won or split their last three Patriot League-opening series, dating back to 2023.
• Kruer's 28 career saves matches the Patriot League record set by former Holy Cross pitcher John Colella and are the most career saves among active NCAA pitchers.
• Brown and Killelea extended their hitting streaks to nine games and eight games, respectively.
• Navy Athletics has won seven of the last nine stars in the all-sport 2024-25 Star Series.
 
Up Next
Navy will continue its homestand Tuesday afternoon when it hosts Dartmouth, with first pitch set for 3 p.m. in Annapolis.