ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Lafayette College baseball team split its Saturday doubleheader with the Navy, dropping game one 5-3 and winning game two 13-2.  
 
Lafayette was led in game one by junior Patrick Vandenbergh who went 2-for-3 and sophomore Justin Grech who was 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Starting pitcher sophomore Luke Benneche went six innings, striking out four batters.
 
In game two the Lafayette Nine was led by junior Seif Ingram who went 3-for-3 with a grand slam, freshman Michael Zarrillo went 2-for-6 with two runs and Vandenbergh who was 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Starting pitcher senior Jake Bloss threw five innings, striking out seven while picking up his sixth win of the season.
 
The Leopards (14-31, 9-11 PL) took an early 1-0 lead in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader in the top of the second. With one out, Zarrillo walked putting a runner on first for the Maroon and White. Vandenbergh singled to advance Zarrillo and then both runners advanced a base on a fielding error by Navy's left fielder, scoring Zarrillo to put the score at 1-0.
 
Lafayette added two more runs in the top of the fifth off a two-run RBI single by Grech to give the squad a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom of the inning.
 
Navy (19-24, 10-14 PL) answered with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and three runs in bottom of the sixth to secure the 5-3 game one victory.
 
In the nightcap, Lafayette once again took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second on Vandenbergh's RBI-single. The Leopards exploded for five runs in the top of the third. Grech led off the inning getting hit by a pitch. The next two batters, freshman Carter Dorighi and junior Pete Ciuffreda walked to load the bases for sophomore Blaze Fadio. Fadio was then hit by a pitch to walk in Grech and give Lafayette a 3-0 lead keeping the bases loaded. Ingram then hit the ball over the left field fence for a grand slam to give Lafayette a six-run lead.
 
The Midshipmen plated one run in the bottom of the fifth and one in the bottom of the sixth to move the score to 6-2 heading into the seventh inning.
 
The Leopards' offense exploded once again in the top of the seventh after Ciuffreda led off the inning with a walk. Two batters later, Ingram was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second. Zarrillo then singled to center field to score Ciuffreda and then Vandenbergh singled to plate Ingram. Freshman Easton Brenner then tripled to bring home both Vandenbergh and Zarrillo, putting Lafayette up eight. A wild pitch by the Midshipmen's pitcher brought home Brenner to give Lafayette an 11-2 lead heading into the eighth inning. The Leopards added two more runs in the top of the eighth.
 
Lafayette and Navy are back in action on Sunday at 1 p.m. to close out the three-game series.