ANNAPOLIS, Md. – In a pair of tightly-contested games on Senior Day, the Navy baseball team (22-18, 13-8) rallied late to earn the doubleheader split with Holy Cross (20-20, 11-7 PL) on Saturday afternoon at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium, falling by a 6-2 score in the series opener before pulling off the 7-3 comeback win in Saturday's nightcap.
 
Squaring up for a battle with the Crusaders for first place in the Patriot League standings, the Midshipmen found themselves down early in the first game despite a quality start from Brady Bendik, as Danny Macchiarola kept the Navy bats at bay while Gianni Royer led the Holy Cross offense with a three-hit, three-run contest, with a three-run top-of-the-seventh silencing the Mids' first comeback attempt.
 
The second game found the Mids trailing early again, but Navy eventually broke through thanks to multi-hit outings from Evan Brown, Andrew Manning and Brock Murtha, while the Navy bullpen duo of Spencer Stephens and Landon Kruer closed the door on Holy Cross over the final three innings as the Mids rallied.
 
Game One Recap
With both Bendik and Macchiarola rolling early, Saturday's first game waited until the third inning for its opening score, as CJ Egrie reached base on a single and then flew around the bases to score from first on a two-out double from John LaFleur.
 
A lead-off double from Royer in the fourth then set him up to come home on Sean Scanlon's own double down the right-field line later in the frame to make it 2-0, but the Mids answered in the bottom of the inning as Manning singled, took second base on Brown's walk and then used back-to-back groundouts to race home for Navy's first run.
 
Royer then singled to start the sixth inning and eventually crossed home to extend the lead to 3-1 on a play that saw him take third on a wild pitch and race home on the ensuing Navy throwing error. Navy once again responded in the bottom of the frame when Jack Killelea was hit by a pitch and later scored on a double from Victor Izquierdo, cutting the Holy Cross edge to 3-2.
 
The Crusaders wasted no time adding insurance in the seventh with a Chris Baillargeon sacrifice fly and a two-run double by King, widening the lead to 6-2, while Luke LeMond relieved Macchiarola for the final frame and retired the Mids in order during the home half of the seventh.
 
Macchiarola finished with six strikeouts in his six-inning start to earn the win, allowing just two runs on five hits, while LeMond notched two strikeouts in his frame of work. For Bendik, he was handed the loss after going 6.2 innings and giving up six runs (two earned) on 10 hits despite six strikeouts, while John Carroll recorded the final out for Navy.
 
Game Two Recap
Navy found itself in a similar situation to begin the nightcap, as Holy Cross used second-innings doubles from King, Brendan Jones and Connor Peek to build another 2-0 lead.
 
After leaving a runner on third base in the second, Navy finally got on the board in the third when a two-out walk from Mason Ceccarelli was followed by Brock Murtha battling back from a 0-2 count to launch a 363-foot home run over the left-field fence, tying the game at 2-2, but Scanlon pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam later in the inning to keep the game even.
 
Stranding another Navy runner at third base in the fourth inning, Holy Cross retook the lead in the fifth on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from Lafleur but Navy starter Tyler Grenn then induced another fly ball to escape further damage.
 
With Stephens entering in the seventh for Grenn and shutting down the Crusaders in back-to-back frames, the Mids started their comeback in the bottom of the seventh when Manning walked and stole second base before coming home on a Brown single into the gap, pulling the score even again at 3-3.
 
Navy then took its first lead of the day in the eighth on a safety-squeeze bunt from Henry Mitchell scored pinch-runner Noah Ditas, while RBI singles from Ceccarelli, Manning and Brown swelled the Navy advantage to 7-3. With Navy handing the ball to Kruer for the ninth, the closer then used a flyout, a groundout and strikeout to sit the Crusaders down in order to secure the come-from-behind victory.
 
With Grenn going six innings and limiting Holy Cross to three runs on three hits with four strikeouts, Stephens picked up the win with his two frames of one-hit ball, while Kruer needed just 11 pitches to get his three outs in the ninth. In the other dugout, Scanlon went 2.2 innings in the start and allowed two runs on four hits, Derek Volz followed with four frames of one-run ball and Jake Lenahan suffered the loss after surrendering four runs on five hits in 1.1 innings.
 
Coach Chuck Ristano Comments
"Two good ball-games today. It was tough to watch us kind of let the first game get away with a few defensive lapses and our inability to get the big hit. On the other side, the response in game two says a lot about this group. They kind of just keep coming. They've done such a good job of picking up each other's slack and it's fun to see contributions from a huge part of the roster as we try to inch back to full health.

"Today was also about honoring our senior class. It was great to have all of their families in town and I'm glad that we left with a win for them. Those five guys have poured everything they have into the program and they are so invested both in this team's success and our program moving forward for many years to come. They all have very unique personalities and they make it fun to come to work every day. They'll go on to do some really special things and I can't wait to see what they all go on to do next. In the meantime, we're working every day to give them the proper send-off and our performance in game two today is what we are hunting on an everyday basis."
 
Game Notes
• Navy is now 94-58 in the all-time series with Holy Cross.
• Bendik has now worked six-or-more innings in five-straight starts and six times overall this season, while Grenn has now gone six-or-more innings in six starts this season as well.
• Brown has tallied multi-hit contests in four of his last six games, while his three hits in Saturday's second game mark a season high.
• Brown has also tallied at least one RBI in five of his last six games.
• Manning has recorded hits in nine of his last 11 games, including seven multi-hit performances.
• Stephens has not allowed a run in his last three appearances, totaling 7.1 innings in that span with six strikeouts to six hits.
• Ceccarelli carries a seven-game hitting streak and 12-game on-base streak into Sunday.
• Peterson has recorded a hit in his last three starts.
 
Up Next
Navy and Holy Cross will conclude the weekend series on Sunday. First is set for 2:00 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.