CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Despite keeping a potent Cavaliers lineup relatively in check in the Midshipmen's final midweek contest of the regular season, the Navy baseball team (23-23) fell to Virginia (26-16) by a 5-1 score Wednesday afternoon at Davenport Field at Disharoon Park in Charlottesville, Va.
With starter
Mikey Plummer going four innings and
Timmy Virtudes pitching back-to-back zeros in his two-plus frames of work to pace the Navy pitching staff, the Mids' offense was highlighted by
Victor Izquierdo's RBI double, while two-hit games from Henry Ford and Chone James backed up a UVA pitching staff that limited Navy to three hits.
Despite a
Mason Ceccarelli single to lead off the afternoon and extend his on-base streak to 18 games, Virginia struck first with Jacob Ference's second-inning solo homer to grab a 1-0 lead.
The Cavaliers made it a 4-0 advantage in the fourth inning when Chone James plated Chris Arroyo on a hit-and-run single, while Luke Hanson sacrifice fly and a passed ball with James on third base brought home two more Virginia runs. Navy answered back in the top of the fifth when
Ty DePerno drew a leadoff walk and then raced home from first two batters later when
Victor Izquierdo smoked a double down the left-field line.
With
Timmy Virtudes coming out of the bullpen to post two shutout frames to start, the Cavaliers finally got to the southpaw in the seventh inning when Aidan Teel doubled past a diving Ceccarelli and got to third on a groundout, while a pitching change and a Henry Ford single followed to score him and make it 5-1.
After getting the final out in the seventh, Drew Koenen then retired the Mids in order in both the eighth and ninth innings to close out the Cavaliers' sixth victory in their last seven games.
Arroyo started the game on the mound for Virginia and held Navy to its one run on two hits over 4.2 innings, while Wes Arrignton and Matthew Buchanan both pitched scoreless innings before Koenen sat down the final seven Mids of the contest, including three via the strikeout.
After Plummer went four frames and allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits, Virtudes shut down the Cavaliers for the first two frames of his 2.1-inning outing, giving up one run on three hits.
Liam Golden then recorded an inning of relief and struck out one before
Ian Brown entered to tally the final two outs.
Game Notes
• Navy is now 10-19 in the all-time series with Virginia.
• Ceccarelli's 18-game on-base streak is the longest by any Navy player this season.
• Wednesday marked Plummer's third appearance on four-or-more innings this season.
Up Next
Navy will host Binghamton for two games this weekend to close out the regular season. Both Saturday and Sunday are set for first pitch at 1:05 p.m.
