ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Pulling off its second-straight come-from-behind win wrap up the regular season, the Navy baseball team (25-23) used a two-run sixth inning and a dominant bullpen performance to post a 3-2 victory over Binghamton (21-21) on Sunday afternoon at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
Highlighted by four relievers combining for five shutout innings and Evan Brown posting a two-hit day, the Midshipmen pulled off the two-game weekend sweep over the visiting Bearcats. Binghamton continued to have Freddy Forgione mash the ball, homering for the second-straight day as part of a two-hit contest.
 
Despite both sides putting runners in scoring position in the first inning, starters Tyler Grenn and Ryan Packard both tossed zeros over the first three frames. Binghamton struck the opening blow when Evin Sullivan punched a one-out single in the fourth inning and was followed by Forgione's two-run blast out to left field, handing the Bearcats a 2-0 lead.
 
With Packard holding the Mids hitless over the first four innings, the Mids had to keep the Binghamton offense in check, as Adyn Lucero came on with the bases loaded and one down in the top of the fifth to induce a pop-up and fly-out to escape danger. Breaking up the no-hit bid, Owen Peterson's one-out triple in the bottom of the fifth got the Navy offense going, as Ivan Aguirre followed with a groundout to the right side to score Peterson and cut the Binghamton edge to 2-1.
 
The Mids pulled in front in the sixth inning when Brock Murtha and Evan Brown notched back-to-back singles, followed up by Ty DePerno's own single into right field to score Murtha, while a throwing error with Brown racing for third base on the play allowed the Navy sophomore to scoot home for the go-ahead run.
 
With Mikey Plummer taking over for Lucero, the southpaw then retired six of the seven batters he faced before Spencer Stephens entered for the ninth and worked around a one-out walk to notch his third save of the season.
 
Grenn held the Bearcats to two runs on six hits in his four innings of work, while Timmy Virtudes recorded one out for the Mids before Lucero pitched 1.2 perfect innings for the win. Plummer then tallied two shutout frames before Stephens closed the door in his three-out save.
 
Packard finished with one run on one hit in his five innings of action, while Brady Bouchard allowed two runs (one earned) in 0.2 innings to get the loss, Ben Griffith went 1.1 innings, Caden Rothbaum logged 0.2 innings and Jackson Mitchell recorded the final out for the Bearcats.
 
Coach Chuck Ristano Comments
"Really proud of the two wins this weekend against a very good and well-coached Binghamton team. These guys just keep pounding at it. While you don't like playing from behind, it makes the wins especially satisfying when we show that type of resolve."
 
"For both wins, I liked the way our bullpen performed and the variety of looks that we were able to run out there helped us create some advantageous matchups. Today especially, our level of defense made it really hard to score on us and, while I'd like to strike more guys out from the mound, we also didn't give away many free bases. Winning the free-90 battle is a major key to our success."
 
"Obviously, the focus quickly shifts to postseason baseball and our rival. I loved the crowds and atmosphere here this weekend and I am sure they'll show up for our playoff series here in Annapolis."
 
Game Notes
• Navy moves to 2-0 in the all-time series with Binghamton.
• Brown has multiple hits in eight of his last 14 games.
• DePerno has posted at least one RBI in five of his last six games.
• Mason Ceccarelli saw his on-base streak snapped at 19 games on Sunday.
 
Up Next
Navy will host rival Army in a best-of-3 Patriot League semifinal series next weekend, with game one of the series set for 1:05 p.m. Saturday.