Baseball Drops Series Opener at Navy, 8-6

Friday, March 17

Annapolis, Md.

2 p.m.

Bucknell University

5-10, 0-1

Navy

8-9, 1-0

Bucknell

Navy

3/17/2023 5:34:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Kyle Lyons went 3-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to seven games, but the Bucknell baseball team dropped the first of a four-game series to Navy 8-6 on Friday afternoon at Max Bishop Stadium. The Patriot League opener for both teams was a slugfest early, with both teams scoring in their first three turns at bat before the pitchers settled in.

Bucknell (5-10, 0-1 PL) outhit Navy 11-10, and eight of the nine Bison in the lineup had at least one hit. Jacob Corson went 2-for-3 along with a pair of walks, joining Lyons in the multi-hit club.

The Bison looked good early, scoring three times in the top of the first inning against Navy starter Nate Mitchell (3-1). Anthony Sherwin and Corson started the game with base hits, and one batter later Sean Keys scored them both with a double up the left-center alley. Keys later scored on Jacob Terwilliger ground ball to make it 3-0.

Bison starter Chris DiFiore (1-3) was punished for a couple of walks and a hit batsman to start the bottom of the first. He struck out Alex Smith for the first out, but Kyle Rausch followed with a bases-clearing double to tie the game. He scored two batters later on a Brock Murtha fielders choice.

The two teams went back and forth throughout the early innings. In the second, Bucknell tied it on Corson's two-out RBI single, but Smith did the same for Navy in the bottom half. One inning later, Terwilliger's double put Bison at second and third with one out, and Kender delivered the tying run with a fielder's choice. Navy took the lead for good in the bottom of the third, when Nick Burch tripled with one out and scored on a Henry Mitchell sacrifice fly.

DiFiore and Nate Mitchell both hung a couple of zeroes to quell the early offensive onslaught. The pivotal inning of the game proved to be the sixth. Bucknell loaded the bases with one out, but reliever Reece Early got out of it with a strikeout and a ground out. Then in the bottom half, Navy added two insurance runs on a Logan Keller RBI double and a Rausch sac fly.

Bucknell did pull one closer in the eighth when Lyons led off with a double and later scored on a Grant Voytovich single. The Bison still had men at the corners with one out, but Early got a couple of pop-outs to end the threat, and Landon Kruer worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save.

Theo Farynick pitched 2.2 scoreless innings in relief for the Bison.

Bucknell and Navy will play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m., followed by a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. The final three games of the series will stream on ESPN+.