BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Led by two veteran pitcher and a timely offense, the Navy baseball team shut out Lehigh, 3-0, on Saturday afternoon to even up its Patriot League-opening series at J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park in Bethlehem, Pa.
 
The Midshipmen (13-5, 1-1 PL) used eight scoreless innings from starter Matt Archibald before Tyler Grenn snuffed out a ninth-inning rally by the Mountain Hawks (4-11, 1-1 PL) to preserve the shutout, while Victor Izquierdo scored the game-winning run as part of a two-hit day from the Navy team captain.
 
After working around a pair of baserunners in both the first and second innings, Archibald settled in over the next five frames by facing just two batters over the minimum during that span, sitting down nine Mountain Hawks via the strikeout.
 
Navy backed up their starter by getting its first run of the game in the third, as Victor Izquierdo reached via a fielder's choice and then swiped second, racing home on Andrew Manning's line-drive single into right. The Mids added another run the next inning when Klug got on base to lead off the frame, stole second, took third on a groundout and came in to score on Tyler Cripe's single into the right-center gap, making it 2-0 Navy.
 
Patrick Walsh came around for Navy's third run in the top of the ninth, working a lead-off walk before moving up on a sacrifice bunt and groundout, then crossing home on John Loudon's infield single for a 3-0 margin.
 
The bottom of the ninth started with a pair of Lehigh singles, but Tyler Grenn slammed the door shut after that, getting a fielder's choice before striking out the next two Mountain Hawks to pick up his first save.
 
Getting the win alongside his nine strikeouts, Archibald wrapped up his day by limiting Lehigh to just five hits and three walks as he matched a career high with eight frames pitched, while Grenn allowed two hits but struck out two in his inning of work to pick up the save.
 
Cole Leaman was handed the loss for Lehigh, giving up two runs on four hits over 3.2 innings, while Max Treonze limited Navy to one run on three hits across his five frames and Jake Mulvehill was on the mound for the final Lehigh out in the top of the ninth.
 
Game Notes
• Navy moved to 106-58 in the all-time series with Lehigh.
• Archibald has tallied nine-or-more strikeouts in three-straight contests.
• Cripe improved his hitting streak to five games.
• Walsh extended his on-base streak to nine contests.
 
Up Next
Navy and Lehigh wrap up the series on Sunday, with first pitch slated for 12 noon on ESPN+.