ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Falling behind early, the Navy baseball team (22-19, 13-9 PL) never got its momentum back in Sunday afternoon's 8-1 loss to Holy Cross (21-20, 12-7 PL) at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
In the finale of a three-game series between the top two teams in the Patriot League standings, the Midshipmen found themselves trailing before even coming to the plate and were held in check by the Crusaders' starter Jaden Wywoda.
Holy Cross got the nationally-televised game started with a three-run first inning, as a pair of singles set up Gianni Royer's two-run double down the left-field line to give the Crusaders a 2-0 lead, while a double steal and Sean Scanlon's sacrifice fly allowed Royer to score Holy Cross' third run.
After Wywoda stranded
Brock Murtha in scoring position in the bottom of the first, Holy Cross quickly added to its advantage in the second inning when two more singles put Connor Peek on third base for LaFleur's sacrifice-squeeze bunt, with Peek racing home to make it 4-0.
Navy struck back in the third inning when a throwing error, a stolen base and a groundout put
Owen Peterson in position to score on Murtha's RBI grounder, cutting the Crusaders' lead to 4-1. Wywoda bounced back with a 1-2-3 frame in the fourth, and his teammates grew his lead in the fifth inning when CJ Egrie scored on a bases-loaded fielding error, while two more Holy Cross runs came home in the sixth on a LaFleur bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and Royer's RBI groundout.
With Navy leaving two runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings, Holy Cross used the momentum to add its eighth run in the eighth inning, as Chris Baillargeon fouled out to
Victor Izquierdo but Egrie tagged up and flew home on Izquierdo's sprint-and-slide catch.
Allowing two Navy batters to reach in the eighth, Holy Cross Marco Citro induced a double-play ball to end the inning and then retired the Mids in order in the ninth to close out the series victory.
Wywoda finished with one run allowed on two hits in his 6.2 innings, striking out six in the win, while Citro got two strikeouts of his own in his 2.1 frames. For Navy, starter
Kevin Maurer surrendered three runs in one inning before
Adyn Lucero pitched three frames of one-run ball,
Ryan Bibb and
Mikey Plummer went an inning each,
John Carroll tossed 1.2 innings,
Jackson Beattie pitched a scoreless inning and
Rayne Fry recorded the final out.
Game Notes
• Navy is now 94-59 in the all-time series with Holy Cross.
•
Mason Ceccarelli and
Ty DePerno extended their on-base streaks to 13 games each.
• Murtha tallied his fifth multi-steal game of the season with two stolen bases Sunday.
• Lucero's three inning pitched on Sunday matches his career high.
Up Next
Navy will wrap up the quick homestand on Tuesday, hosting William & Mary in a 5 p.m. non-conference contest.
