ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Despite Matt Archibald racking up nine strikeouts in a career-high six innings, the Navy baseball team could not pull off the weekend sweep of Bucknell, as the Bison pulled away late to defeat the Midshipmen, 8-2, on Sunday afternoon at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
While Archibald kept Navy (12-11, 5-2 PL) in the game through the first six innings in a pitchers' duel against a committee of arms for Bucknell (9-13, 1-3 PL), the Bison thwarted the Mids' comeback hopes with a seven-run seventh inning, led by Tyler Dunn's two-hit, three-RBI contest.
 
Archibald did his best to hold Bucknell in check, allowing just Dunn's two-out RBI double in the third inning after a leadoff walk to John Calabrese. On the other side, the Bison combination of starter Mikey Myro, Brady Swenson, Samuel Janik and Hadley Maxwell did not allow more than one Navy runner to reach base in any of the first seven innings.
 
With Archibald giving way to the Navy bullpen to start the seventh, Bucknell pounced on the Mids' relievers to provide a comfortable lead for the Bison pitching staff via a seven-run frame. Finding the bases loaded, Dunn laced a single up the middle to score Calabrese and Brady Karp and move the score to 3-0. A fielder's choice then scored Billy Fluharty, a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch plated Dunn, Calabrese singled in two more runners and a wild pitch brought in Luke Nascimento to widen the advantage to 8-0.
 
Navy did not go down easily, loading the bases with one out in the eighth inning, and broke up the shutout when Ty DePerno lifted a deep sacrifice fly to center field that let Noah Ditas tag up and score.
 
After Ian Brown struck out all three batters he faced in his collegiate debut to start the ninth, the Mids continued to attempt the long-shot comeback with back-to-back singles from Evan Brown and Andrew Manning. Bearing down, Bucknell closer Jonathan Adelmann then got two strikeouts and a flyout to secure the Bison's first Patriot League win of the season and avoid the weekend sweep.
 
Myro lasted 1.1 innings and allowed just one hit in his season debut, while Swenson followed with 2.2 shutout frames on the back of three strikeouts to pick up the winning decision, while Janik pitched a scoreless inning, Maxwell surrendered Navy's lone run in 2.1 innings of relief and Adelmann pitched the final 1.2 innings for a Bison with a pair of punchouts.
 
Archibald was saddled with the loss despite limiting Bucknell to one run on two hits and five walks in his six frames, striking out nine for the second time this season. Ryan Bibb then gave up three runs out of the bullpen and Owen Geiger followed by allowing four runs in 0.2 innings before Liam Golden posted three strikeouts in 1.1 scoreless innings and Ian Brown finished the game with his one-inning outing.
 
Game Notes
• Navy is now 99-87-1 in the all-time series with Bucknell.
• Archibald is the first Navy pitcher with multiple performances of nine-plus strikeouts in a season since Charlie Connolly in 2021.
• Evan Brown used a two-hit afternoon to extend his on-base streak to 14 games.
• Jack Killelea had his hitting streak snapped but walked a career-high three times to move his on-base streak to 13 games.
• DePerno has tallied at least one RBI in seven of his last nine games.
 
Up Next
Navy will conclude the homestand with midweek contests against Coppin State (March 25) and Maryland Eastern Shore (March 26). First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. both days.