Navy baseball sweeps Sunday doubleheader with Holy Cross to advance to Patriot League championship series

The Navy baseball season is still alive thanks to a dramatic comeback in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals.

After losing Game 1 of a best-of-three series with Holy Cross on Saturday, the Midshipmen got two strong starting pitching performances and timely hitting to sweep a Sunday doubleheader played amidst a series of rain showers (and at times downpours) at Max Bishop Stadium.

Freshman Brady Bendik and senior Matthew Shirah came through in the clutch as third-seeded Navy beat No. 3 Holy Cross, 7-3 in Game 2 and 6-2 in the decisive Game 3, to advance to next weekend’s championship series.

Shirah (3-4) pitched two-hit baseball over five innings and allowed only one run with six strikeouts to propel the Mids in the rubber match. Navy’s offense pounded out 16 hits and scored three runs in the bottom of the third to take the lead for good.

Freshman catcher Jack Killelea led off with a single to left field and two batters later, senior outfielder Zane Raba hit a scorching line drive down the third base line for a double into the corner. With runners at second and third, Navy coach Chuck Ristano called for lead-off hitter Hudson Lehnertz to lay down a bunt, which he executed perfectly as it was placed just right of the pitching mound — allowing Killelea to score and Raba to advance to third.

The next three Mids — senior Eduardo Diaz, sophomore Brock Murtha and sophomore Victor Izquierdo — all singled to give Navy an early 3-0 lead.

Although it turned out that was all the support Shirah would need, he ran into some trouble in the fifth inning. After Shirah hit a batter and tossed a wild pitch, Holy Cross catcher Van Coughlin laced an RBI single to left field to score the Crusaders’ first run of the contest.

However, in a key moment in the game, Shirah settled down and retired the next three batters in order, much to the delight of Ristano.

“Matthew delivered the type of effort we knew we’d get from a senior who was essentially pitching to continue his career and that’s why he gets the ball in these games,” Ristano said.

Navy struck again In the bottom of the fifth with the heart of the batting order doing the damage. A single by Diaz and double by Murtha set the table for Izquierdo, who launched a 0-1 fastball to the deepest part of the park in left-center field for a two-run double that gave Navy a 5-1 lead.

“The guys battling with two strikes, the type of contact, the way our hitters dug in and refused to strike out or have lazy flyout — that is another testament to the resolve of this group,” Ristano said. “When you lose that first game, you know you have to bring it for 18 innings, and that’s a statement about who we are fundamentally.”

Following a leadoff walk in the top of the sixth, Ristano pulled Shirah and brought on freshman righthander Ryan Bibb, who took advantage of several innings of spectacular defense by the Mids. After recording a strikeout, Bibb bounced a pitch in the dirt and Holy Cross John LaFleuer tried to advance to second base.

However, Killelea threw a dart to Murtha, who contorted his body to tag out the runner and thwart any momentum by the Crusaders.

Navy’s defense again helped prevent a rally in the top of the seventh. With runners at the corners, Coughlin hit a lazy fly ball to right field and Raba made a spectacular diving catch that turned into a run-scoring sacrifice fly. Two batters later, Izquierdo made an impressive scoop of a low throw by third baseman Logan Keller to end the inning.

Closer Landon Kruer went two innings for the save. The junior right-hander gave Holy Cross everything he had including several fastballs in the low 90s. He struck out four of the seven batters he faced to close out the decisive game three and send the Mids to the championship series.

“Kruer is someone who just wants the baseball and when you have guys like that you enjoy handing them the ball because you’re going to get everything they got,” Ristano said. “There was no one else we wanted to hand the ball to and he rewarded us for that.”

The third game was necessary because Bendik was brilliant on the mound in Sunday’s opener. Bendik allowed three runs on five hits through eight innings to earn the win. The right-hander struck out five and threw a season-high 133 pitches before being relieved in the ninth inning after loading the bases with the Midshipmen leading 7-1.

“For a kid like Brady, who is mature and advanced beyond his years, we’ve come to expect that kind of performance from him,” Ristano said.

The Mids jumped on the visitors early, scoring five runs in the first inning. Lehnertz laced the second pitch he saw down the right field line for a double to start off the game. Four pitches later, Diaz lined a single to center to plate Lehnertz and make it 1-0.

Murtha singled and Victor Izuierdo’s walked to load bases for freshman designated hitter Andrew Manning, who promptly cleared them with a triple into the left field corner to increase the lead to 4-0. Keller followed with a sacrifice fly and those five runs were all Navy would need.

“It feels good to hang a zero in the first and then put up a crooked number, but you know the game is long and you’re going to get the best effort from the opposition in a setting like this,” Ristano said. “We didn’t want to stay complacent and wanted to continue to score runs, which we did. We have found ways to win every type of game this year that you could win, and that is a testament to the resolve and maturity of this team.”

Navy (28-21) now awaits the winner of the other semifinal series between top-seeded Army and No. 4 Bucknell. After upsetting the Black Knights 4-3 on Saturday, the Bison traveled back home so the seniors could attend graduation ceremonies.

Bucknell returned to DoubleDay Field on Monday for a doubleheader and needed to win just one game to eliminate Army, the Patriot League regular season champion.

“Of course I would like a crack at both of them because they were the two teams that won the [regular season] series against us. I’m just glad we’re still playing,” Ristano said.