ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A 13th-inning sacrifice fly from sixth-year Thomas Schreck of the Black Knights spoiled the Midshipmen's Senior Day, as the Navy baseball team suffered a 5-4 loss to rival Army in a marathon of a series opener Saturday afternoon at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
The first game of the final regular-season series for both teams and the Mids' second-straight 13-inning contest, the rivalry showdown turned into an early pitchers' duel between
Brady Bendik and Andrew Berg with both starters allowing just one earned run apiece, while William Parker paced Army with a three-hit, two-RBI day and
Evan Brown collected three hits for Navy while scoring once.
Along with Bucknell's win at Lehigh, Saturday's results moved the Bison and Black Knights into a tie for first place in the Patriot League standings and one game ahead of the Midshipmen entering the final day of the regular season with two games left to play.
Navy struck first in the bottom of the second inning, as
Andrew Manning reached on a fielder's choice and eventually scored when
Will Howard sent an RBI single through the right side. Army answered right back in the top of the third by stringing together three-straight hits, capped off by Schreck singling to right field to drive in Josiah Overbeek and tie the game at 1-1.
Both starters locked back in after that, with Bendik stranding two runners in the seventh when he induced an Overbeek fly-out while Berg got a double-play ball in the bottom of the frame to negate
Chris Klug's leadoff single.
The Mids retook the lead in the eighth when
Noah Stead reached via an error and
Tyler Cripe singled home over to third, setting up captain
Victor Izquierdo for the go-ahead sacrifice fly on a line-out that plated Stead for a 2-1 edge.
Army rallied back in the ninth by drawing a pair of walks to bring up late-game defensive replacement Paul Andrzejewski, who ripped a single down the left line to drive in Mason Scott and bring the score even at 2-all. Overbeek then moved to the mound and was able to leave the game-winning runner stranded at second base in the bottom of the ninth, while both teams left a runner at second in the 10th frame.
Army then went in front for the first time all day in the top of the 11th when Billy Parker pulled a two-run double down the third-base line for a 4-2 edge, but the Mids forced the game deeper into extras with a dramatic two-run rally in the bottom of the inning. Getting back-to-back singles from Brown and
Patrick Walsh and a sacrifice bunt by Klug, pinch-hitter Tyler DePerno then grounded out to plate Brown and cut the deficit to 4-3, also marking DePerno's first appearance after a nearly month-long injury.
Jake Hooten then delivered a clutch RBI double into the left-field corner, bringing home Walsh to tie the game at 4-4.
Andrzejewski sparked the 13th-inning Army output with a leadoff single and then advanced to third on Chris Barr's double down the left-field line, setting the stage for Schreck's go-ahead sacrifice fly. Navy was unable to answer in the bottom half of the frame, with Overbeek closing out a grueling, extra-inning battle between the service academies.
Berg finished with two runs allowed (one earned) on six hits over his nine innings, striking out six, while Overbeek notched the win by limiting Navy to two runs in his four frames of relief and punching out four.
Bendik wrapped up his day with just the one run on eight hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking none, before
Jackson Clark allowed one run in 1.1 frames and
Jackson Beattie was handed the hard-luck loss by surrendering three runs in 4.2 innings out of the bullpen.
Game Notes
• Navy is now 137-139 in the all-time series with Army.
• This marks the first time Navy has played back-to-back extra-inning games since the 2015 Patriot League Championship Series against Lehigh.
• It is the second time in program history that Navy has played back-to-back games that went 13-or-more innings, with the first time being in 1950 (2-1 loss to Penn State in 13 innings, 7-5 loss to Army in 15 innings).
• Bendik has thrown six-straight quality starts and has worked six-or-more innings in each of his last nine outings.
• Beattie's 4.2 innings pitched and four strikeouts both marked season highs for the righty, while the 4.2 innings is his longest appearance since five frames on March 1, 2024 against Iona.
• Walsh improved his hitting streak to 17 games and his on-base streak to 26 games.
• Klug, Brown and Cripe all extended their hitting streaks to eight games.
• Sunday was DePerno's first appearance since an April 5 injury, while Sunday was also the first game back from injury for
John Loudon since March 24.
Up Next
Navy and Army conclude the regular season on Sunday with a doubleheader at 1:05 p.m., as both teams continue to seek the Patriot League regular-season title alongside Bucknell.
