The baseball team hosted the Naval Academy for a three-game stand this past weekend. The Leopards dropped two of the three matches this week after splitting their doubleheader last weekend against Navy. The team also hosted rival Lehigh University on Wednesday, waltzing to a blowout 19-6 victory.
Rainy weather delayed the start of the series until Sunday, as the originally planned Saturday doubleheader was moved to a second game on Sunday and a Monday rubber match.
Game one saw the Leopards (8-8 Patriot League, 12-26 overall) jump out to an early 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly from senior outfielder Easton Brenner. They traded runs with the Midshipmen (12-7 Patriot League, 21-17 overall) in both the second and third innings, courtesy of RBI hits from junior catcher Ethan Swidler and senior infielder Michael Zarrillo.
The Maroon and White added insurance with a sixth-inning RBI single from freshman infielder Alex Barrist. Navy fought back in the seventh with a run to bring it within one, but the comeback fell short as the Leopards won 4-3.
Senior right-handed pitcher Joe Skapinetz commanded the mound for six innings, allowing only two earned runs and striking out eight Midshipmen batters to pick up the win. Senior right-handed pitcher Mike Romano earned the save in relief.
“Being effective with multiple pitches, being able to command the strike zone, getting ahead early in counts, forcing weak contact, that allows guys to go deep into the game,” Miller said.
Game two kicked off with an opening frame RBI single from sophomore infielder Matt Colella, followed by a two-run triple from Barrist in the second for a 3-0 head start. After allowing a run in the top of the third, freshman outfielder Jack Mislan matched it with an RBI single of his own.
The scoring ended early for the Maroon and White, however. Two-run shots in back-to-back innings for the Midshipmen contributed to six unanswered runs as they captured the 7-4 win to knot the series up.
“Baseball is a weird game where there’s a lot of failure involved,” Miller said. “The teams that have the most success are the ones that are able to flush some bad happenings, and focus forward and focus on the next pitch.”
Swidler proved to be the brightest spot for the Leopards on the day, collecting six hits across the two games.
“Ethan’s our spark, he’s arguably the best player in the league,” Miller said. “When he’s going well, our team feeds off of that.”
Monday’s rubber match saw the Leopards struggle defensively early. After two and a half innings of play, Navy took an insurmountable 9-2 lead. The Leopards remained resilient, however, as they clawed back with RBI hits from Brenner and Colella. Freshman infielder Liam Ebbs homered in the fourth to close the gap to 9-5.
The Leopards plated two more runs on the day, but Navy added insurance in the seventh and ninth innings to hold onto the 11-7 series-clinching win.
An eight-run first inning pushed the Leopards past the Mountain Hawks (6-10 Patriot League, 17-18 overall) on Wednesday. After surrendering three in the top of the frame, Mislan kicked off the Leopard scoring after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Junior outfielder Bode Grieve launched a right-field grand slam to take the lead, followed by RBI singles from Barrist and Brenner.
By the end of the third, the Maroon and White already built a 15-4 lead courtesy of Ebbs, Zarrillo and Mislan each contributing RBI doubles. A fourth-inning grand slam put the exclamation point on the victory, as the Mountain Hawks failed to cut the deficit to single digits before the game ended prematurely due to the mercy rule.
The tumultuous week of baseball did not pass by without recognition. Barrist earned Patriot League Baseball Rookie of the Week honors on Monday after posting a .364 batting average across the week leading up to the Navy series.
“I knew he’d find his way in pretty quickly, and he’d be a tough guy to keep out of the lineup,” Miller said. “He’s got the biggest heart, and arguably plays harder than anybody and you know you’re going to get a good at bat from him.”
The Leopards will travel to West Point, New York, this weekend to take on the Army Black Knights (10-9 Patriot League, 16-19 overall) in a three-game series.
