ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy baseball team (24-23) had to rally twice on Saturday afternoon, but the Midshipmen's five-run eighth inning proved to be the difference in a 9-7 win over non-conference foe Binghamton (21-20) at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
With Andrew Manning and Owen Peterson both notching three-hit contests in Navy's penultimate game of the regular season, Ty Perno's homer sparked a three-run sixth for the Mids that was then followed by a Navy five-spot in the eighth inning to finally overtake the hot-hitting Bearcats.
 
A quick first inning set the stage for both offenses in the second inning, as an Evin Sullivan single and Freddy Forgione double to start the frame led to Steven Kraus' RBI groundout to open the scoring and a wild pitch later in the inning brought home Forgione to make it 2-0 Binghamton. Navy responded right back when DePerno doubled to lead off the bottom of the second and Manning drove him in on a single in the gap, cutting the Bearcats' edge to 2-1.
 
Sullivan's hit-by-pitch to begin the fourth then brought Forgione back up, who then crushed a two-run homer out to left field to open up a 4-1 lead for Binghamton.
 
With Matt Archibald coming out of the bullpen to retire the first five Bearcats he faced, the Mids backed up their reliever by tying the game in the sixth. A one-out Evan Brown single was followed by DePerno's 415-foot blast over the left-field fence to cut the lead to 4-3, while a Victor Izquierdo double later in the frame put the Navy first baseman in position to score on Peterson's single, bringing the game even at 4-4.
 
The Binghamton bats got back to work in the seventh, as three-straight singles from Todd Abraham, Matt Bolton and Zach Rogacki plated Abraham to regain the 5-4 lead. After Navy came up empty despite loading the bases with no outs in the seventh, Binghamton added on in the eighth when Abraham tripled home two more runs, extending the advantage to 7-4.
 
Navy wasted no time rallying, as Manning and Izquierdo both singled to start the home half of the eighth, while Peterson continued the streak when he singled down the left-field line to score Manning. A Henry Mitchell walk later in the frame then loaded the bases, while back-to-back hit-by-pitches by Mason Ceccarelli and Brock Murtha pulled the game even again at 7-7, and Brown completed the comeback when he smoked a 106-mph single past Abraham at second base to plate Mitchell and Ceccarelli.
 
With Landon Kruer taking over for Archibald in the ninth, the Navy closer then used a groundout, strikeout and flyout to cap off the come-from-behind victory.
 
Navy starter Brady Bendik went 4.1 innings and allowed four runs on three hits before giving way to Archibald, who posted nine strikeouts in 3.2 innings and held Binghamton to three runs on four hits for the win, while Kruer picked up the three-out save for his ninth of the season, matching his career high.
 
For the Bearcats, starter Hayden Tarsia held Navy to one run in 3.2 innings and Brady Lesiak recorded one out as the first pitcher out of the bullpen, while Vincent Luther allowed three runs in two frames and Conner Griffin surrendered four runs in 1.1 innings in the losing decision before Jake Dally gave up one run himself getting the final two outs for Binghamton.
 
Game Notes
• Navy is now 1-0 in the all-time series with Binghamton.
• With a third-inning triple, Ceccarelli extended his on-base streak to 19 games.
• Peterson's three hits set a career high, while Manning's three-hit day matched his career high.
• Archibald registered nine strikeouts for the third time this season, matching his career best.
• Navy's 14 hits on Saturday are a season high.
• With 72 career pitching appearances, Kruer needs two more outings to match Jett Meenach for third in program history.
• Kruer needs one more save to match the single-season program record of 10 held by Trey Braithwaite (2019) and Ryan Hefner (2006).
• Murtha's 18 hit-by-pitches are the second-most in program single-season history.
• Murtha's 21 steals in 2025 are tied for sixth in program single-season history, while his 45 career steals are sixth in the program record books as well.
 
Up Next
Navy will close out the regular season on Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch against Binghamton.