WEST POINT, N.Y. – After dropping the first two contests of its three-game Star Series against Army (20-18, 13-5 Patriot League) on Saturday, the Navy baseball team (18-22, 9-13 Patriot League) rebounded with a 5-0 win over the Black Knights Sunday at Johnson Stadium. The three-game series was part of the overall Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA.
 
"Like I just told the fellas, that was probably the most complete baseball game that we've played all year," said head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "We executed on offense, our pitching was outstanding today. We really had a good scheme and they were able to execute it. Defensively, I thought we were solid all weekend. It was a really good win from the standpoint of playing solid baseball and being able to bounce back from a tough day yesterday."
 
Matthew Shirah (So., Blue Ridge, Ga.) and Nolan Jorgenson (So., Eastvale, Calif.) combined to shut down the potent Army offense over 8.2 shutout innings, prior to Landon Kruer (Fr., Sellersburg, Ind.) working out of a bases-loaded jam with two outs in the ninth to earn his sixth save of the season.
 
"I think it's great to see," said Kostacopoulos in regard to the effort on the mound of Shirah, Jorgenson and Kruer. "They (Shirah and Jorgenson) are both sophomores and both underpitched last year, with the number of games we played they didn't get a lot of innings. They are taking this time and really developing, I think that is always the goal. Landon (Kruer) has been a big help for us as a freshman, so that's two sophomores and a freshman that are doing a good job and that's what you're looking for in the short term and building for the future."
 
The shutout effort on the mound by the trio of Shirah, Jorgenson and Kruer marked the first scoreless outing of the season for the Navy pitching staff, in addition to Kruer moving into a tie for sixth on the Mids' single-season saves list.
 
Zane Raba (So., San Antonio, Texas) paced the Midshipmen on offense, going 2-for-4 with a walk, a double and two runs scored. Nick Burch (Jr., Hollywood, Md.) also tallied a multi-hit effort with a 2-for-4 outing, while Eduardo Diaz (So., Miami, Fla.) went 1-for-4 with a game-high three RBIs.
 
"I think that Eddie (Diaz) has really come to work and been receptive to adjustments we've asked him to make," remarked Kostacopoulos on the effort of his sophomore shortstop at the plate Sunday. "The hit in the first was huge, finding a hole in the right side to bring home two, and the safety squeeze proved to be really big also. He is also really fun to watch on defense because he can do some things at shortstop that most others can't."
 
After being limited to just four runs over the two games on Saturday, the Navy offense struck quickly in the series finale against Army starting pitcher Brian Dawson (3-1) to begin play on Sunday. The Mids opened the contest with a three-run, four-hit rally that included a leadoff double by Raba and a pair of RBI singles by Diaz and Christian Policelli (Sr., Walkersville, Md.) that gave Navy an early 3-0 advantage.
 
With a three-run lead in hand, Shirah (3-2) went to work in what proved to be one of his best outings of the 2022 season. The sophomore retired 13 of the first 15 batters he faced, including holding the Black Knights hitless through the first 3.2 innings of the contest.
 
The first sign of trouble for the right-hander would come in the bottom of the fifth, as Army used a pair of singles and a stolen base to place runners on second and third with two outs in the frame. However, Shirah was able to work out of the jam with some help from his defense, as Ivan Aguirre (Fr., Temple City, Calif.) snagged a liner off the bat of Carter Macias, which seemed destined to find the outfield grass, for the final out of the inning.
 
The Black Knights would attempt yet another rally in the bottom of the sixth against Shirah, forcing the sophomore from the contest in favor of Jorgenson after a pair of two-out singles put runners on first and third. The comeback attempt would once again be stifled by the Mids, as Jorgenson forced a Cam Cerruto flyout to end the threat.
 
After working out of the jam in the sixth, Jorgenson was tasked with maintaining the three-run lead for Navy as its offense was held scoreless following its hot start in the first. The right-hander did just that over his three innings of work, retiring seven of the first eight batters he faced including two via strikeouts.
 
On the back of the effort by Jorgenson, the Midshipmen extended their advantage to 4-0 in the eighth as Diaz brought home Alex Smith (Jr., Laguna Hills, Calif.) on a perfectly-placed safety squeeze. A sacrifice bunt by Zach Stevens (Sr., Lexington, Mass.) one batter later set up the Mids with runners on second and third with just one out, but Army reliever Tanner Gresham was able to escape the inning with back-to-back strikeouts to preserve the Black Knights' deficit of four runs.
 
In the ninth, the aforementioned deficit would balloon to five runs as Smith brought home Raba on a two-out RBI single. The 5-0 Navy advantage would be put to the test in the bottom of the frame, as Jorgenson yielded three singles that loaded the bases with two outs. As a result of the Army rally, the sophomore was pulled in favor of Kruer who was tasked with closing out the contest.
 
The freshman made quick work in earning his Patriot League leading sixth save of the season, forcing a Macias fly out to right that ended the game and secured a 5-0 decision in favor of the Midshipmen.
 
In an effort on offense that saw the Black Knights strand 10 runners on base, Nick Manesis and Hunter Meade led the way with two hits apiece. Army used five pitchers on Sunday, with Dawson taking the loss after allowing three runs on seven hits over five innings of work.
 
UP NEXT
Following its victory over Army on Sunday, Navy is slated to return to action Tuesday night as it travels to College Park for a showdown against No. 24 Maryland. First pitch of the non-conference contest is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.