Navy Notches a Pair of One-Run Victories Over Lehigh in Saturday Sweep

Saturday, April 15

Bethlehem, PA

12 p.m.

Lehigh University

11-21, 2-7

United States Naval Academy

26-12, 7-2

Navy

Lehigh

Navy Notches a Pair of One-Run Victories Over Lehigh in Saturday Sweep

4/15/2017 7:04:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Mountain Hawks dropped a pair of heartbreaking one-run losses to defending Patriot League champion Navy in the first half a weekend series at J. David Walker Field. The Midshipmen came from behind in both games to record victories of 2-1 and 3-2 to take a two-game lead in the four-game series.

Lehigh (11-22, 2-8) struck first and took a 1-0 lead in game one when Jeff Shanfeldt roped a two-out double down the left field line to drive in Jacen Nalesnik who scored from first following a lead-off walk. Shanfeldt finished the game with two of LU's five hits in game one as he went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The Mountain Hawks held Navy (27-12, 8-2) off the board over the next two and two thirds innings thanks to solid pitching and key defensive stops in the field. Chris Kersey robbed a potential extra-base from Adrian Chinnery as he reached over his shoulder to snag a line drive headed straight for the fence in the fifth inning. Shortstop James Bleming sold out and snared a hard-hit grounder up the middle to rob Chinnery again to record the second out of the seventh inning.

With two outs recorded in the seventh, the scheduled final inning of game one, Navy put runners on with back-to-back walks. Travis Blue hit a ball up the middle and this time it went through to score Zach Biggers from second.

Lehigh had two runners threatening in the bottom of the seventh as Shanfeldt singled and advanced to third on a double by David Young. The Mids brought in Jett Meenach, the top reliever in the league, to record a strikeout and a ground out to get out of the jam.

Both teams went three up and three down in the eighth inning. Lehigh was working on another unblemished half inning in the top of the ninth until Biggers stepped up again for Navy and stroked a two-out homer to right field for the eventual game-winning run. Meenach recorded two ground outs and a strikeout in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the win.

Connor Donovan started for Lehigh and battled his way through 6.2 innings of work. The senior held one of the nation's best offenses to just one run on two hits. He exited the in seventh prior to Navy tying the game as he walked a batter with two outs and his pitch count eclipsed the 100 mark for the game.

Noah Song, one of the league's top arms, started for Navy and went 6.1 innings. He surrendered one run on five hits while striking out nine. Meenach collected the win as he pitched 2.2 perfect innings with three strikeouts.

Despite the loss in game one, Lehigh held one of the top offensive teams in the country to a season-low tying two runs on a season-low tying four hits. The Mids entered the weekend averaging a league-leading 7.70 runs per game on a league-best 10.86 hits per game.

Lehigh score first again in game two on back-to-back RBI singles by Yong and Kersey in the second inning. Young lead LU in game two offensively as he went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI.

With two outs recorded in the fifth inning, Navy's Christian Hodge tied the game with one swing with a two-run shot to left field. The Mids used the long ball again with two outs to complete the comeback in game two when Leland Saile blasted a solo shot to left field for the go-ahead run.

To recap, the Mids scored both of their go-ahead runs on the day with two-out solo home runs. Additionally, all three of Navy's home runs came with two outs recorded.
Navy's two wins on Saturday extends the win streak to nine games. Lehigh held the Mids to the lowest and second-lowest single-game run and hits totals during the win streak.

The two teams will meet again on Sunday for another doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. at Walker Field.