LEWISBURG, Pa. – With
Evan Brown's grand slam highlighting its third-straight win, the Navy baseball team (21-17, 12-7 PL) used a six-run second inning to power itself to a 6-4 victory over Bucknell (13-22, 5-11 PL) on Wednesday afternoon at Depew Field.
Taking the final game of their regular-season series with the Bison, the Midshipmen got a two-hit performance from Brown while
Spencer Stephens provided two shutout frames to close out Navy's win and keep the Mids atop of the Patriot League standings.
Despite both teams threatening with runners in scoring position in the first inning, Navy finally got on the board in a big way in the top of the second with a six-run frame. After
Victor Izquierdo doubled home
Ty DePerno for the first run of the game and
Brock Murtha later got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to make it 2-0,
Evan Brown lifted a ball over the right-center fence two pitches later for a grand slam and a 6-0 lead.
Bucknell struck back in the fourth as Billy Kender and Ryan Facinelli worked back-to-back walks with the bases loaded, cutting the Navy advantage to 6-2, while a sixth-inning hit-by-pitch by Luke Nascimento with the bases loaded made it a 6-3 game.
With Brady Karp going opposite field on a leadoff homer in the seventh to shrink the Navy lead to 6-4, Navy kept the Bison in check in the eighth when Stephens worked out of a bases-loaded jam, while the big lefty then retired Bucknell in order in the ninth inning to pick up the save.
With
Matt Archibald striking out five while allowing two runs in his 3.2-inning start, the Mids then turned the ball to
Adyn Lucero and
Ryan Bibb for 1.2 innings each, as both limited Bucknell to a run each and Lucero notched the winning decision, before Stephens worked the six-out save and registered two strikeouts.
AJ Murray suffered the loss for Bucknell after a 1.2-inning start that saw him surrender three runs, while Nick Mulvey followed by striking out four but giving up three runs in 3.1 innings. Hadley Maxwell then pitched three shutout innings for the Bison before Jonathan Adelmann struck out two in his one frame of relief.
Coach Chuck Ristano Comments
"Today was a really good finish to an incredibly challenging stretch of travel and conference games. I'm really proud of the entire group's resilience and our ability to just keep pounding at it. There are still a bunch of things to clean up, but we continue to cultivate the types of traits that keep us bouncing back and moving forward as a team."
"Today was far from perfect. We put a lot of guys on base and only scored in the six-run inning, but we were able to make the pitch and play to keep them from having a big inning. When they had a little momentum, we found ways to snuff it out without getting damaged. Obviously, the Brown home run gave us a huge jolt and the performances from Lucero, Bibb and Stephens were critical."
"We've had some really unfortunate breaks on the injury front, but that has allowed some new faces to step into more significant roles and contribute when the program needs them most. Everyone plays their part and I don't know who tomorrow's hero is going to be, but that says a lot about this group."
Game Notes
• Wednesday marked Navy's 100th all-time win against Bucknell, moving the all-time series to 100-87-1 in favor of the Mids.
• Navy improved to 6-1 in midweeks contests this season with the victory.
• Bibb has recorded four strikeouts in three of his last four outings.
• Brown has tallied two-hit contests in three of his last four starts.
•
Mason Ceccarelli has tallied a hit in eight of his last 10 games.
Up Next
Navy will host Holy Cross for a three-game series, with Saturday's 1 p.m. doubleheader on ESPN+ serving as Senior Day while Sunday's finale is also slated for 1 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
