ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Mason Ceccarelli capped off a career day at the plate as the walk-off hero, propelling the Navy baseball team to a 7-6 win over Maryland Eastern Shore in 11 innings Wednesday evening at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
Joining
Jack Killelea and
Henry Mitchell in posting two-hit performances, Ceccarelli finished with a 2-for-3 contest that included two runs scored, two RBI and a trio of walks, highlighted by the bases-loaded single to score Killelea in the bottom of the 11th.
Maryland Eastern Shore took the early lead with two runs in the first inning thanks to three singles bringing in lead-off hitter Ansel Carson, while a throwing error on Ryan Howe's steal plated Julian Jimenez to make it 2-0 Hawks before Navy came to bat. The Mids answered by loading the bases on three walks in the bottom of the first and notched their first run on
Ty DePerno's sacrifice fly that allowed
Brock Murtha to tag from third base.
UMES made it 3-1 in the second with Jonathan Gonzalez's RBI single to drive in Carson, but Navy responded again in the home half of the inning with three runs to take the 4-3 lead, as
Chris Klug walked and scored on Ceccarelli's triple, Ceccarelli trotted home on Mitchell's double down the right line and Mitchell eventually crossed home on a Murtha groundout.
Navy grew its edge to 6-3 in the third inning when Mitchell and Murtha both knocked in runs on two-out singles, but the Hawks kept themselves in the game by turning double plays in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings and Jimenez brought it to 6-4 in the fourth when he tripled home Elijah Negron while Jason Brown made it a one-run game in the fifth by driving in Ryan Davis on a single.
Carson then singled home Negron from first base in the seventh for the tying run, while the Hawks' bullpen stranded Navy runners on base in the seventh, eight and ninth innings to force extra innings. With
Landon Kruer stranding two Hawks in the top of the 10th and Jayden Dillard doing the same to Navy in the bottom of the frame, the Mids finally got the break it needed in the bottom of the 11th with Killelea's lead-off double and a pair of intentional walks. A strikeout then brought up Ceccarelli with two outs, who roped a 2-2 pitch down the right-field line to drive in Killelea and give the Mids their first win of April.
Making his second collegiate start for Navy,
Kevin Maurer lasted two innings while giving up three runs, while
Liam Golden,
Ryan Bibb and
Spencer Stephens all went two frames apiece and allowed a run each before Kruer came on for the ninth and pitched three scoreless innings with four strikeouts to notch the winning decision.
After starter Cade Williams surrendered two runs and Carter Champey gave up two more in their two-inning outings, Tyler Prather pitched a scoreless frame and Robert Guerrero tossed two shutout innings to bring on Jayden Dillard, who worked 3.2 innings before giving up his first run of the game on Ceccarelli's single and suffering the hard-luck loss.
Game Notes
• Navy is 37-6 in the all-time series against Maryland Eastern Shore, winning its last two meetings with the Hawks.
• Navy is now 2-1 in extra-inning games this season.
• Navy pitchers struck out a season-high 16 batters on Wednesday.
• Kruer's three innings matched his season high from March 8 against UMass.
• Stephens' five strikeouts and Bibb's four strikeouts were both season highs for the hurlers.
• Murtha's three walks are a career high.
Up Next
Navy will host a pair of Patriot League doubleheaders this weekend, as the Mids face Lafayette on Saturday before welcoming Lehigh on Sunday.
