NORFOLK, Va. – Boosted by a seven-run second inning and four different players recording three-hit contests, the Navy baseball team (12-4) slugged its way to a 15-8 victory over Norfolk State (2-12) on Tuesday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field in Norfolk, Va.
 
An early offensive surge saw Tyler Cripe lead the Midshipmen with a three-hit, five-RBI performance, highlighted by his three-run home run in that big second inning, while John Loudon, Victor Izquierdo and Patrick Walsh all joined Cripe in tallying three-hit games and Ian Brown logged four strong innings in the start to set the tone against the Spartans.
 
Navy opened the scoring in the first inning when Loudon led off the game with a single into the gap and advanced to third base on a failed pickoff attempt, allowing him to trot home on Izquierdo's own single into left and make it 1-0. Norfolk State took its own lead in the bottom of the first when Cameron Mazell lifted a sacrifice fly and Josiah Harrison later hit a RBI single to grab a 2-1 edge, but Brown was able to retire 10 of his 11 next batters faced.
 
The Mids quickly took the lead back in the second after Ty DePerno singled and Jake Hooten walked, as Cripe launched his three-run homer over the right-field wall and Mason Ceccarelli went the same way with a two-run blast after Loudon ripped another single, making it 6-2. A fielding error later in the frame plated Izquierdo and Walsh smacked his fourth triple of the year to score Will Howard, extending the lead to 8-2.
 
Navy tacked on two more runs in the third thanks to Cripe singling home Hooten and Ceccarelli battling to get a RBI groundout to knock in Cripe for a 10-2 advantage, while the fourth frame saw the Mids plate five additional runs via Cripe's two-run single into the right-center gap, Loudon's own RBI single and Izquierdo lining a two-run, opposite-field double to put the Navy lead at 13-2.
 
With the Mids going to the bullpen for the fifth, the Spartans struck back with their own five-run inning, as Harrison's bases-loaded walk, Mason Mompoint's two-run double to left, an error on Ryan Hoeft's batted ball and a Kydese Queen RBI single moved the score to 15-7.
 
The sides then traded scoreless frames for the next three innings before Norfolk State tried to mount a rally, as Mazell's solo shot to open the ninth made it 15-8, but Adyn Lucero got two strikeouts and a fielder's choice play to close out Navy's 12th win of the spring.
 
Brown wrapped up the win by going four innings, allowing one earned run on five hits while striking out five Spartans. Mikey Plummer then logged 0.2 innings but allowed three earned runs, Kevin Maurer got one out and Ryan Bibb faced two batters before Jackson Beattie pitched two shutout frames and Lucero allowed just the solo homer in his two innings while punching out four.
 
Taking the loss, Ryan Seller gave up five earned runs (eight total) in his two innings, while Myles Crocker allowed six runs in 1.1 frames, Sean Harris-Walter held the Mids to one run in 1.2 innings, Donvan Whitfield pitched a scoreless frame and C.J. Patterson closed the game by keeping Navy hitless over the final three innings.
 
Game Notes
• Navy moved to 3-1 in the all-time series with Norfolk State.
• Navy's 15 runs, 15 hits and 13 RBI all mark season single-game highs.
• Cripe becomes the third Navy player this year to record a five-RBI game, joining Loudon (2/13 at Queens) and Izquierdo (2/17 vs. Delaware State).
• Hooten pushed his on-base streak to nine-straight games.
• Tuesday marks the fifth time this season the Mids have scored double-digit runs and the 22nd time Navy has done so in the Chuck Ristano era.
 
Up Next
Navy will begin league play with a three-game series at Lehigh, with Friday's series opener set for 3:00 p.m. in Bethlehem, Pa.