May 23, 2016
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Two pitchers combined on a shutout and a sacrifice fly broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the eighth inning as Navy won its seventh Patriot League baseball title with a 1-0 victory over Holy Cross in game three of the championship series on Monday at Max Bishop Stadium.
The Mids (42-14-1) earn the Patriot League's automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals as they claim their first League title since 2011 after falling in a three-game series to Lehigh last season. Holy Cross (30-27) fell in the League Championship series for the fourth time in the last seven years.
Navy's seven Patriot League titles match Army West Point for the most in League history.
The teams were locked in a scoreless pitcher's duel into the bottom of the eighth inning of game three before Navy's Stephen Born laced a one-out single and Sean Trent followed with a double to put runners on second and third. After an intentional walk, Patriot League Tournament MVP Leland Saile hit a sacrifice fly to center field to bring in the game's only run.
Holy Cross got a one-out walk in the ninth inning, but Sam Sorenson got the next two hitters to finish the title-clinching win for the Mids. Sorenson pitched two hitless innings to pick up the win, and earned the victory in both of Navy's championship series wins as he also tossed a scoreless inning in a 2-1, 10-inning victory in game one.
Navy had the best chances early in game three by loading the bases in the second inning and placing runners on second and third with one out in the third inning, but the Crusaders pitched out of it each time with George Capen coming out of the bullpen to get out of the jam in the third.
Navy starting pitcher George Coughlin turned in a dominant outing, allowing just three hits and one walk with five strikeouts over seven scoreless innings. The Crusaders had a runner reach base in the first and second inning, but did not get another runner past first for the rest of the contest. Six different Mids had one hit each in the contest.
Capen was a tough-luck loser for Holy Cross as he pitched 5.2 innings out of the bullpen and allowed four hits and a walk with just the one run. Justin Finan started and threw 2.1 scoreless innings for the Crusaders.
The Crusaders had extended the series by picking up a 3-2 win in game two to open Monday's action. Holy Cross took the lead in the second inning on an RBI single by Thomas Russo, and extended it to 3-0 in the third on consecutive RBI singles by Anthony Critelli and Bill Schlich.
Navy got a run back in the fifth on an RBI single by Matthew Wilcox, and had a rally in the ninth when Saile led off with a single and Adrian Chinnery brought him home with an RBI double. But Capen did the job from there as he got the next three batters to fly out to pick up the save for Holy Cross.
Phil Reese had a strong start for the Crusaders by going 6.2 innings with one run allowed on seven hits, while Capen threw the final 2.1 innings with one run allowed to pick up the save. Schlich led the Holy Cross offense by going 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI while four other Crusaders had a hit along with either a run scored or RBI.
Chinnery was 3-for-4 with an RBI for Navy, while Saile went 2-for-4 and scored both of the team's runs. Noah Song gave up three runs in two innings on the mound to take the loss, while Andrew Bartek threw six scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
Navy, which won the Patriot League regular-season title with a 15-5 record, becomes the fourth top seed to win the League Tournament title in the past six years. Holy Cross was the second seed after finishing one game back of the Mids in the regular season with a 14-6 record.
It was the fifth time in the past seven seasons that the Patriot League Championship series went to a third game, and the fourth straight time in that span where the game one winner won the decisive game three. Navy won a three-game set at home against Army West Point in 2011 before falling in three at home against Lehigh last season, while Holy Cross previously lost a three-game series in both 2010 (Bucknell) and 2012 (Army West Point). The Crusaders were appearing in the League Championship series for the first time since 2013.
For all of the scores throughout the postseason, visit Patriot League Baseball Tournament Central.
Following the conclusion of Monday's contests, the following players were selected to the Patriot League Baseball All-Tournament Team.
Navy: Leland Saile (MVP), Stephen Born, Sam Sorenson and Sean Trent
Holy Cross: Bobby Indeglia, Brendan King and Bill Schlich
Lehigh: Jacen Nalesnik and Mackey Price
Bucknell: Andrew Andreychik and Joe Ogren