Navy sweeps Bucknell in Lewisburg doubleheader, takes Patriot League lead

Navy spent Sunday afternoon in Lewisburg turning Bucknell’s leads into leverage. At Depew Field at Marren Park, the Midshipmen rallied in both ends of a rain-shifted doubleheader, beating the Bison 9-4 and 5-3 to move into sole possession of first place in the Patriot League before the weekend was finished.

The series had been billed as a top-two matchup, with Bucknell leading the league and Navy one game back entering play. Rain pushed the schedule from Saturday-Sunday to Sunday-Monday, and the change put a spotlight on a compressed doubleheader that left little margin for mistakes in Union County. Navy entered the series on a five-game winning streak and left Lewisburg with the kind of road results that can swing a title race.

In the opener, Bucknell struck first, but the Bison could not hold the edge once Navy’s lineup found a rhythm. Navy put together nine unanswered runs at one point, a stretch that changed the feel of the game and drained Bucknell’s early momentum. Andrew Manning drove in three runs, Chris Klug went 3-for-4, and Navy finished with 10 hits. Brady Bendik picked up the win, while Bryce Mitchell took the loss. Bucknell had eight hits and played cleanly in the field, but the Bison did not have enough pitching answers once Navy started stacking innings.

The second game followed the same pattern, with Bucknell again getting to the front before Navy answered in the middle and late innings. Bucknell’s recap said the Bison led in both games but could not close either one out, a costly turn for a team trying to protect first place on its home field in Lewisburg. The two losses gave Navy sole possession of first place with four conference games left and tightened the pressure on the rest of the league, including Army.

Bucknell did answer the next day. On April 27, the Bison beat Navy 5-4 in 13 innings on Zach Selfon’s RBI single, with relievers Bryce Mitchell and Hadley Maxwell stabilizing the game late. That result created a three-way tie for first place among Bucknell, Navy and Army. Even so, the weekend made one point clear at Depew Field: in a Patriot League race this close, one late rally can reshape the standings, and two can change the title picture.