ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Patrick Walsh drove in three runs across two games and was one of three rookie Midshipmen (24-14, 11-7 PL) to go deep, as the Navy baseball team swept a Patriot League doubleheader against Holy Cross on Friday evening at Fitton Field, edging the Crusaders (16-21, 10-8 PL) by a 3-2 score in the opener before rolling to a 10-4 victory in the nightcap.
 
Jake Hooten connected for his first collegiate home run and Brady Bendik went the distance to earn the seven-inning win in the first game for the Mids, while the Navy's bats came alive in the second game by tallying 12 hits to secure the sweep, highlighted by Tyler Cripe's homer to lead off the nightcap and Walsh's mammoth two-run shot to put the game out of reach.
 
Game One Recap
After Bendik worked out of an early bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the first inning, Navy quickly got their pitcher some run support in the second. With Massachusetts native Andrew Manning drawing a one-out walk, Hooten then pulled a low pitch over the left-field fence for his first collegiate homer and handed the Mids a 2-0 edge.
 
With Bendik and Jaden Wywoda matching each other for the next few frames, Holy Cross cut the Navy lead to one run in the fourth, as Owen Stelzer walked to load the bases and a balk during the next batter forced Colin Brown in from third base to make it 2-1 Navy.
 
Navy was able to add an insurance run in the sixth when Cripe walked and eventually made it to third, easily trotting home on Walsh's RBI single through the right side for a 3-1 advantage.
 
The Crusaders nearly mounted a rally in the bottom of the seventh, as a single and an error put Alex Sandell on third base and he came in on Braden Connors' single into right, cutting the Navy lead to 3-2, but Bendik then induced the John LaFleur fly-out to close out the complete-game win.
 
Bendik (5-3) finished with five strikeouts in his seven frames, allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits to notch his second-straight winning decision. Wywoda (4-4) also pitched a complete game, taking the loss after giving up three runs on five hits over seven innings.
 
Game Two Recap
Cripe set the tone immediately with a towering homer over the right-field wall to lead off the game, while Andrew Manning quickly followed with an RBI single to center later in the inning for a 2-0 edge.
 
While Manning made a diving catch just before to continue a highlight-reel frame, the Crusaders answered in the bottom of the first via Ryan Grundy's two-run homer to tie the game at 2-all.
 
Navy steadily pulled away after that, though, as Cripe added an RBI single in the second to follow up a Hooten triple to give Navy a 3-2 lead, and Chris Klug ripped an RBI double in the third to drive in Manning to extend the advantage.
 
As Navy starter Tyler Grenn and Holy Cross reliever Jake Lenahan dueled for the next couple frames, Navy doubled its lead in the sixth when Manning and Klug both singled to start the inning and both runners came home via a throwing error by Holy Cross on Noah Stead's hard-hit grounder.
 
The bottom of the sixth inning saw the Crusaders get one back on Simon Landry's sacrifice fly to cut it to 6-3, but the Mids erupted for a three-run seventh when Cripe singled, Izquierdo tripled him home on a opposite-field triple and Walsh then cleared the bases with his tape-measure two-run homer to right-center, making it a 9-3 game.
 
Loading the bases in the top of the ninth, Navy scratched across one more run on Will Howard's walk to make it 10-3. A Grundy RBI single in the home half of the inning then started a mini-rally that saw Holy Cross work the bases loaded before reliever Jackson Clark got Stelzer to fly out to close the game.
 
Grenn (2-3) pitched six innings and struck out six for the win, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits while not issuing a walk. Clark then followed for the nine-out save, allowing one run on one hit while racking up five strikeouts in his three frames.
 
Starter Pedro Leon got the loss for Holy Cross after lasting 2.2 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) despite five strikeouts, while Lenahan threw 4.1 frames of relief but ended up on the hook for five runs (three earned). Colin Dowdle then recorded one out, Cole Mascott surrendered one run in 1.1 innings and Andrew Nesson registered the last out for the Crusaders.
 
Game Notes
• Navy is 96-59 in the all-time series with Holy Cross
• Bendik has gone seven-or-more innings in each of his last four starts, while Friday marked his second complete game of the season and the sixth of his career.
• Walsh improved his on-base streak to 19 games and his hitting streak to 10 games.
 
Up Next
Navy and Holy Cross will close out the series with a Saturday doubleheader, with the first game of the day set for 2:05 p.m.