WORCESTER, Mass. – The Navy baseball team (12-18, 4-9 Patriot League) dropped the opener of its three-game set to Holy Cross (8-25, 3-6 Patriot League) Saturday at the Crusaders' Fitton Field. The Midshipmen held a late lead in the contest, 5-2, but saw Holy Cross score a run in the seventh and another three in the eighth to take a one-run lead it wouldn't relinquish in a 6-5 decision over the Mids.
 
"It was a hard-fought game, we just weren't able to get the critical out or make the critical play we needed to get us over the top to win a nine-inning ballgame," said head coach Paul Kostacopoulos. "First half of the game we were right on the fastball, then they (Holy Cross) made a change to a different style pitcher that threw a lot of changeups and breaking balls. We didn't do a good job adjusting during the second part of the game on offense. That was kind of it, it wasn't just one thing, we didn't make the play or get the out that we needed to get us over the top."
 
Eduardo Diaz (So., Miami, Fla.) paced the Navy offense in the contest, going 2-for-4 with his first collegiate home run, a run scored and two RBI. Ivan Aguirre (Fr., Temple City, Calif.) also added two RBI in a 1-for-3 showing, while Kiel Brenczewski (Jr., Fishers, Ind.) tallied a game-high three hits, along with driving in a run and scoring two.
 
"The bottom of the order did their job tonight, they put some good at-bats together," said Kostacopoulos on the effort on the offense. "We just didn't have enough continuity throughout the lineup, we ran into some stop signs with some strikeouts in the second part of the game. All three of those guys (Aguirre, Brenczewski and Diaz) did a great job for us at the bottom of the order."
 
Nate Mitchell (Jr., Parker, Colo.) turned in a solid start for the Mids on the mound, allowing just two runs over 5.2 innings of work. The junior also walked just one batter, while striking out four. Colin Jones (Sr., Collierville, Tenn.) pitched 1.2 innings of relief after taking over for Mitchell, allowing three runs, two being earned, despite not allowing a hit. Landon Kruer (Fr., Sellersburg, Ind.) took his first loss of the season after giving up the go-ahead, two-RBI single in the eighth.
 
"He (Nate Mitchell) gave us a really good start," said Kostacopoulos of the effort from Mitchell. "He gave us 94 pitches, his most all year, and he had some high-leverage innings where he competed and got out of some things. The pitch count shortened his start, but he was great for us tonight."
 
The Midshipmen offense struck first in Saturday's contest, taking a 2-0 lead in the second as Diaz followed a Brenczewski two-out single with his first collegiate home run. Navy's advantage would expand to four runs in the fourth as Aguirre brought home two runs on a booming double into the right-center field gap.
 
With a 4-0 lead in hand, Mitchell got to work on the mound by retiring eight of the first 11 batters he faced, along with working around a first and third, one-out jam in the third. The junior was able to escape the inning unscathed thanks to a boost from his defense, as Christian Policelli (Sr., Walkersville, Md.) cut down the Crusaders' Brendan Jones at the plate as he attempted to score on a fly out.
 
Following the aforementioned two-run double by Aguirre in the top of the fourth, the Holy Cross offense came to life with a rally of its own in the bottom of the frame, plating two runs on three hits to cut the Navy advantage to 4-2.
 
The Midshipmen would steal back a run in the sixth, extending their lead to 5-2 as Brenczewski brought home Alex Smith (Jr., Laguna Hills, Calif.) on a double down the left-field line. The two-base hit by Brenczewski ultimately forced Holy Cross starting pitcher Jack DiLauro from the contest in favor of reliever Trevor Neff.
 
Neff (2-0) was able to work out of the frame without further damage, and ultimately was able to hold the Navy offense at bay over the next three innings, allowing just one hit while striking out six batters.
 
In the seventh, three of the first four batters reached base for the Crusaders via a walk, a fielding error and a hit by pitch to load the bases with one out. Following the hit by pitch, Nate Wolf brought home a run on a groundout to reduce the Navy lead to 5-3, but Jones forced the next batter to fly out, escaping the inning without further damage.
 
The Mids attempted to add an insurance run in the top of the eighth against Neff, as Diaz tallied a two-out single that was followed by a walk to Aguirre that put runners on first and second with two outs. Neff was able to work out of the jam one batter later, tallying a strikeout to end the threat.
 
Jones returned to the mound in the top of the eighth, but was ultimately pulled from the game in favor of Kruer (1-1) after allowing two of the first three batters to reach base. Following the pitching change, Holy Cross tallied three runs on two hits, including a pair of RBI singles by Connor Peek and Nick Wang to take its first lead of the day over the Midshipmen at 6-5.
 
The one-run advantage would prove to be a finality in the contest, as Nick Escoto came on to earn his third save of the season for the Crusaders, working around a leadoff single by Colin Smith (Jr., Wilmington, Del.) by retiring each of the next three batters to secure the 6-5 decision.
 
Wang led the way for the Crusaders on offense, going 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI, while Cooney went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Neff was rewarded for his efforts in relief, earning his second win of the season with his aforementioned three-inning, six-strikeout outing.
 
"We've got to play a full game, we have found ourselves being one play short, one hit short, we've got to find a way to play a full game," remarked Kostacopoulos. "We've got to play solid, fundamental baseball. Get the outs when we need to and have some quality at-bats throughout the game. That has been the goal and will stay the goal as we move forward through the season."
 
UP NEXT
Navy and Holy Cross are slated to conclude the three-game Patriot League series with a doubleheader on Sunday. First pitch of game one from Worcester is scheduled for 1 p.m.