KINSTON, N.C. – The Navy baseball team (4-2) tallied a pair of wins against Air Force (3-4) and won the 2022 Freedom Classic Saturday, downing the Falcons in game one, 5-1, prior to earning a 2-1 victory in game two. Over the two games Saturday, the Midshipmen pitching staff combined to allow just two runs while striking out 15 batters.
Leading the way for the Navy offense over the two games was the pairing of
Kyle Rausch (Jr., Middle Island, N.Y.) and
Alex Smith (Jr., Laguna Hills, Calif.). Smith went 2-for-3 in game one including his first collegiate home run, while Rausch added a 2-for-3 showing of his own in game two with a run scored.
"It's always great to get a doubleheader win, but it is a little more special when you get to do it against another service academy," said head coach
Paul Kostacopoulos. "The big thing was our pitching staff all weekend, they had three quality outings. I wouldn't even necessarily call them starts, we got it from everybody. Everyone did a good job throwing strikes and from a standpoint of where we were at a week ago to where we are today, I feel a lot better about that.
"I also think we did some little things right, we put the ball in play when we needed to. Obviously, we didn't have a great offensive weekend but we did it when we had to. We put balls in play, were able to score runs and we didn't make a mistake today. When you play mistake free baseball it gives you a good chance to win."
Game One: Navy 5, Air Force 1
After Air Force rallied to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the fifth inning, Navy scored twice in the bottom of the fifth, along with adding another two runs in the sixth that ultimately secured a 5-1 win for the Midshipmen in game one of Saturday's twin bill over the Falcons.
The Mids opened their scoring effort in the top of the second when
Joe Simourian (Sr., Andover, Mass.) brought home
Logan Keller (So., Longwood, Fla.) on a groundout to take a 1-0 lead. The advantage would hold over the next two innings as starting pitcher
Matthew Shirah (So., Blue Ridge, Ga.) allowed just two hits along with stranding four runners on base in the frames.
In the top of the fifth, the Falcons forced Shirah from the game after the Navy right-hander hit a batter before allowing a single to set up runners on first and second with one out. Following Shirah giving way to
Colin Jones (Sr., Collierville, Tenn.) Air Force tied the score on a one-out RBI single by Cayden Zimmerman prior to Jones working out of the inning without further damage.
In the bottom half of the fifth, the Mids quickly regained the lead at 2-1 as
Christian Policelli (Sr., Walkersville, Md.) laced an RBI double into the left-center field gap that brought home
Zane Raba (So., San Antonio, Texas) before
Zach Stevens (Sr., Lexington, Mass.) produced a sacrifice fly that scored Policelli to extend the Navy advantage to 3-1.
Coupled with Jones retiring the final six batters he faced, Navy added two more runs to its lead in the bottom of the sixth as Smith launched his first collegiate home run over the left-field wall, prior to
Eduardo Diaz (So., Miami, Fla.) rocketing an RBI double down the left-field line that scored
Ivan Aguirre (Fr., Temple City, Calif.) and helped secure a 5-1 win for the Midshipmen over Air Force in game one.
Game Two: Navy 2, Air Force 1
In the night cap of Saturday's doubleheader between the Midshipmen and Falcons, Navy was carried on the mound by the duo of
Liam Golden (Fr., Springfield, Va.) and
Zach Ward (So., Mokena, Ill.) before
Landon Kruer (Fr., Sellersburg, Ind.) came on to record his first career save in a 2-1 victory that secured a series win for the Mids over Air Force.
Golden, making his first career start, retired nine of the 11 batters he faced including allowing just one hit and striking out two over three innings of work. On the back of the effort by Golden, the Navy offense broke through in the top of the third as Rausch and Simourian came home to score on a pair of productive outs by Diaz and Raba to take a 2-0 lead.
With a two-run lead in hand heading into the home half of the fourth, Ward took the place of Golden and turned in a stellar outing of his own. The sophomore allowed just one run on two hits while striking out a career-high five batters over three innings to maintain a one-run advantage for Navy heading into the bottom of the ninth.
In the ninth, Kruer was called upon to record the final three outs and did just that, striking out a batter while allowing just one hit en route to earning his first career save and locking down a 2-1 victory for the Midshipmen over Air Force and a series win of the 2022 Freedom Classic.
UP NEXT
Navy is scheduled to return to play Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. as it travels to take on George Mason in its first true road game of the 2022 season. Following their contest against the Patriots, the Midshipmen are set to welcome Central Connecticut State to Max Bishop Stadium for a three-game series beginning with a 4:30 p.m. first pitch on March 4.
