ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy baseball team's season came to an end with a 6-4 loss at Bucknell on Monday afternoon, as the second-seeded Bison (26-22) swept the best-of-three Patriot League Semifinal Series over the third-seeded Midshipmen (30-19) at Depew Field at Marren Park.
A pair of third-inning defensive miscues erased Navy's early lead, as Bucknell built a 5-1 edge and held on late despite the Mids rallying for a three-run sixth inning, working around two more rally attempts by Navy in the seventh and eighth frames to clinch the Bison's berth in the Patriot League Championship Series next week against No. 4-seed Holy Cross.
Navy jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when
Patrick Walsh delivered an RBI single to left field to score
Chris Klug, who had doubled earlier in the frame.
However, Bucknell answered and took the lead in the third inning on a pair of two-out Navy errors. After putting runners on second and third with no outs, Mids' starter
Tyler Grenn got a a pair of strikeouts to put Navy on the verge of getting back to the dugout, but Michael Trommer reached via a fielding error on a ground ball, allowing Andrew Swenson and Zach Selfon to come home in the scramble. Moments later, Garrett Mathias reached on a throwing error, bringing Trommer home for a 3-1 advantage.
The Bison extended their lead to 5-1 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from Swenson and an RBI fielder's choice by Billy Fluharty, but reliever
Jackson Beattie was able to strand two runners to keep the game within reach.
After Bucknell rookie Brady Hoar had retired 13-straight Mids following the first inning, Navy finally rallied for three runs off the Bucknell starter in the top of the sixth to cut the deficit to 5-4. Using back-to-back doubles from
Will Howard and
Noah Stead to lead off the frame,
Tyler Cripe drove in Howard with a sacrifice fly to center, Klug reached on an error by the third baseman that plated Stead and
Andrew Manning then lined an RBI single to center to bring home Klug, but Everett Garber then entered out of the pen to get a strikeout and keep Bucknell in front.
After getting a double play to escape a two-on, one-out Navy rally, Bucknell added an important insurance run in the bottom of the seventh when Trommer doubled to right-center to score Fluharty. Navy again brought the winning run to the plate in the eighth when Patick Walsh was plunked and Manning walked with two down, but Garber got another big strikeout to leave two Mids stranded. Hadley Maxwell then came on for the ninth and worked around a two-out walk to close out the Bison's sweep of the Mids.
Hoar (7-3) earned the win for the Bison, pitching 5.2 innings and allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks. Garber then pitched 2.1 no-hit innings of relief before closer Maxwell pitched a scoreless ninth inning to secure his 11th save of the season.
Grenn (3-4) took the loss for the Mids, surrendering five runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks over 3.1 innings. Beattie followed Grenn, allowing one run on three hits over 2.2 innings, while
Jackson Clark pitched two scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Game Notes
• Navy now holds a 103-92-1 all-time record against Bucknell
• Walsh ends the season on a 30-game on-base streak, while Klug concludes 2026 on a 12-game on-base streak of his own.
• Navy's 132 stolen bases on the season are a program record.
• The Mids' 34 homers this season rank fourth in program history.
• Navy's 442 strikeouts as a pitching staff rank third in program history.
