LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Navy baseball team (7-9, 0-1 Patriot League) fell to Bucknell (4-9, 1-0 Patriot League), 12-2, in its Patriot League opener Friday at BU's Depew Field. The Midshipmen trailed by just three runs through five innings, but Bucknell scored a combined nine runs over the next two frames to secure a series-opening victory.
Seven players recorded a hit for the Mids, highlighted by
Eduardo Diaz (So., Miami, Fla.) and
Kiel Brenczewski (Jr., Fishers, Ind.), who each tallied a double.
Zach Stevens (Sr., Lexington, Mass.) added a 1-for-2 showing with a walk and a run scored to round out the top performers for Navy at the plate Friday.
Starting pitcher
Nate Mitchell (Jr., Parker, Colo.) posted six strikeouts for the second-consecutive start, tying a career-best total, but allowed seven runs over 5.1 innings of work in what was his second loss of the season.
"They (Bucknell) really swung the bat today," said head coach
Paul Kostacopoulos. "They had 18 hits, which is usually hard to defend. I thought our at-bats were better, we had a few loud outs. We competed better today and as much as the score was unbalanced, I thought we did a good job of hanging in there and creating good at-bats to give ourselves a chance. We just have to take what we learned today and get them tomorrow."
Bucknell opened its scoring effort in the home half of the first, posting three runs on four hits to take an early 3-0 lead over the Mids. However, the Bison offense would be held at bay over the next four innings as Mitchell (0-2) retired 12 of the next 16 batters he faced, including four via strikeouts, to maintain Navy's three-run deficit.
On the back of the bounce-back effort by Mitchell, the Mids threatened in the top half of the fourth, as back-to-back singles by Stevens and
Colin Smith (Jr., Wilmington, Del.) set up the Midshipmen with runners on first and second with just one out. However, Bucknell starting pitcher Will Greer (2-0) was able to work out of the inning without allowing a run, retiring each of the next two batters to maintain the Bison advantage.
In the sixth, Bucknell went back on the attack at the plate, tallying four runs on five-straight hits to force Mitchell from the game in favor of
Tanner Wade (Fr., Fayetteville, Ark.).
The Bison continued to add to their lead in the seventh, with four of the first five batters recording singles, bringing home a pair of runs to force Wade from the game.
Owen Archer (Fr., Frisco, Texas) replaced Wade with one out in the frame, allowing three additional RBI singles that extended the Bucknell lead to 12-0.
Navy broke through with its first runs on the game in the top of the ninth, as Stevens came home to score on a wild pitch, prior to Brenczewski scoring on an RBI groundout by
Joe Simourian (Sr., Andover, Mass.) in what proved to be a 12-2 decision in favor of Bucknell.
The Bison were led at the plate by Anthony Sherwin, going 4-for-6 with a run scored and two RBI, while Chris Cannizzaro added two RBI and three hits. Greer earned the win on the mound for BU, pitching eight shutout innings in which he allowed six hits and struck out four batters.
UP NEXT
The Midshipmen and Bison are slated to continue their four-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch of game one from Lewisburg is scheduled for noon.
