West Point Baseball Suffers Setback to Navy

WEST POINT – The Army West Point baseball team was shut out in its series finale against Navy, falling 5-0 on Sunday afternoon at Johnson Stadium.

Despite the loss, the Black Knights (20-18, 13-5 PL) still won the Star Series presented by USAA as they swept Saturday’s doubleheader opposite the Midshipmen (18-22, 9-13 PL).

The Army offense, which had been averaging 12 runs a game over its last four outings, nearly pulled off the comeback in the bottom of the ninth with a two-out rally that saw the team load up the bases, but the tying run was left in the on-deck circle.

Navy claimed its first lead of the weekend in the top of the first, using some timely hitting to jump out 3-0 before adding some insurance runs later in the game. Following a shaky start, Brian Dawson settled in and forced the Mids to put up four-straight zeros.

The Cadet bats took a while to get going, as the team was held without a hit until Nick Manesis singled in the bottom of the fourth. Army had its first runner get into scoring position in the following frame when Hunter Meade’s single sent Derek Berg to third, but he was stranded 90 feet away from home plate.

Teddy Lepcio was effective in relief for the Black Knights, tossing 2.0 innings of scoreless baseball between the sixth and seventh. Both Trevor Finan and Tanner Gresham, who also pitched out of the bullpen, were tagged with one run apiece in their outings as the Mids tagged up on a fielder’s choice in the eighth before plating their final run with an RBI single in the ninth.

Cam Cerruto, Braden Golinski and Meade all singled in the final inning to help Army load up the bases, but a pitching change for Navy helped the team preserve its victory. Dawson was hit with the loss, moving him to 3-1 this season.