ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A lack of offense and a tough day in the bullpen for the Navy baseball team (6-3) was the deciding factor in Saturday afternoon's 12-0 loss to St. Bonaventure (4-5) at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
Despite starter
Matt Archibald posting the team's first quality start of the season in a 13-strikeout, six-inning outing, the Midshipmen were shut out by the Bonnies' Nolan Feidt and Tristan Ciampa while Chris Hoalcraft paced the SBU lineup with a four-hit, four-RBI output. Archibald's 13 strikeouts were the most by a Navy pitcher in a game since Noah Song struck out 15 Lehigh batters on April 27, 2019 in a seven-inning complete-game shutout.
St. Bonaventure got its offense going quickly, as a pair of walks to open the game were followed by Hoalcraft's single through the left side to score Anthony Fernandez, but Archibald settled down after that and retired seven straight. The Bonnies made it 2-0 in the third inning when Hoalcraft once again drove in Fernandez on a single, while Feidt worked out of a two-runner jam during the home half of the third after
Mason Ceccarelli doubled and
Victor Izquierdo was intentional walked.
With Archibald shutting the Bonnies down over his final three innings, the visitors got back to their scoring in the seventh off the Mids' bullpen, as Connor Vercollone dashed home on a
Jackson Clark wild pitch. A six-run eighth followed, as a Christian LaMothe RBI single kick-started a frame that featured Vercollone's two-run double down the line, Fernandez's RBI single up the middle and Hoalcraft's bases-clearing two-run single into center, extending the Bonnies' lead to 9-0 while going through four Navy relievers.
Not finished, St. Bonaventure tacked on three more runs in the ninth thanks to Gavin Constantine's RBI single and a two-run single off Joey Bruno's bat. Navy tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back singles from
Leo Mangiamele and
Will Howard to start the frame, but Ciampa got a strikeout and double-play ball to close out the game.
Feidt wrapped up the afternoon with just three hits allowed in seven shutout innings, striking out four in the win, and Ciampa recorded one punchout and two hits allowed in his two scoreless frames
Archibald ended with the loss despite holding SBU to two runs on four hits in his six innings, while Clark,
Sachin Gopal,
Jackson Beattie,
Adyn Lucero and
Kevin Maurer all made appearances out of the bullpen.
Game Notes
• Navy moved to 1-1 in the all-time series with St. Bonaventure.
• Mitchell extended his hitting streak to three games with his leadoff single in the third inning.
• Before Archibald on Saturday, the last Navy pitcher to record double-digit strikeouts in a game was Nate Mitchell on March 25, 2023 against Lehigh.
• Archbiald also became the first Navy pitcher since Song to record 13-or-more strikeouts in a six-inning start, with Song striking out 14 in six innings against Air Force on Feb. 22, 2019
Up Next
Navy and St. Bonaventure will close the series on Sunday, with the rubber match slated for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch.
