KINGS POINT, N.Y. —

The United States Coast Guard Academy baseball team fell in extra innings, 3-4, to their archrivals at the United States Merchant Marine Academy on Tuesday night. In a game that saw eight errors combined between the two sides, it was a fielding misplay that did the Bears in with the winning run on second in the bottom of the tenth.

Coast Guard drops to 3-5, while Merchant Marine improves to 5-2. The Mariners will face a big challenge in their next one when they host Kean College (10-3-1) on Saturday, March 21st. The Cougars are currently sixth in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll (NCBWA) and fifth in the American Baseball Coaches Association poll (ABCA). 

The win also gives Merchant Marine a point in the race for the Superintendents' Trophy, an annual incentive competition between all varsity sports teams from both academies which awards the winner of the most head-to-head match-ups across all three athletics seasons. The Mariners hold a 7-5-1 lead in the race after tonight, with the one tie pertaining the women's soccer game this past fall.

The cold weather in Kings Point coincided with a cold offensive showing for the Bears, who mustered just four hits across the ten-inning battle. They had baserunners regardless with six walks and six hit batsmen. The Mariners got six of their eight hits from a trio of two-hit games by Landon Troutt, Luke Kruer, and Charles Cahalan. Both teams combined for 26 runners left on base, with the Bears stranding 15 alone.

Senior right-hander Harrison Milbert (Kingston, Mass.) allowed three unearned runs and two hits in the first inning before turning it over to fellow senior righty Tyler Michalek (Fort Worth, Tex.), who proceeded to shutout the Mariners over four innings while striking out seven and letting up three base knocks. Kings Point saw Luke Sems allow three earned runs on three hits while walking five and sending down seven during his 4.1 innings pitched. Eddie Lippert was the first reliever, but he hit the first two batters he faced, prompting another call to the bullpen for Louis Inserrs, who struck out two and walked one in 1.2 innings of work.

Ultimately, it was the final pair of relievers who stole the show. Freshman righty Alexander Smith (Fairfield, Ohio) went a valiant 4.1 innings and allowed three hits while striking out five, while USMMA's Travis Campbell held the Bears down further with four innings of one-run ball and six strikeouts.

The Mariners jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first, thanks partly to a pair of errors from Coast Guard. The leadoff man walked and then stole second base on a bad pickoff attempt, and then Kings Point had runners on the corners following an infield throwing error. Kruer delivered with a single up the middle to drive in his teammate from third base, and the next batter walked to set up a bases loaded opportunity for Cahalan, who delivered with another single up the middle to plate two.

Junior hitter Ayden Gurevich (Lake Worth Beach, Fla) set up the play that got the Bears on the board in the third, lacing a single to left field to bring sophomore outfielder Max Van Auken (Franklinville, N.J.) from first to third. Van Auken was able to score on the play thanks to an error by the left fielder. Coast Guard added one more later on after sophomore outfielder Mason Phillips (Oak Park, Ill.) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, just before senior third baseman Luke Percifield (Pinellas Park, Fla.) came through with a sacrifice fly ball to right field to bring in the tying run.

After another inning of work for Michalek and Inserra, Smith and Campbell relieved their respective teammates in the seventh. Campbell was immediately tested after Phillips sent a ball to right field for a triple, but the Mariner induced three consecutive pop-outs to leave the inning unscathed. Campbell found himself sweating again in the eighth, as Van Auken reached on an error, stole second, and then advanced to third base on a bad throw down. All it took for Campbell was a nine-pitch strikeout and then a groundout to keep the score tied.

In the bottom tenth, Cahalan led off the inning with a single. Smith struck the next man out, and Michael Brown approached the plate as a pinch hitter for Kings Point. Amid several pick-offs to first base due to an earlier steal by Cahalan, Smith caught him off guard and induced a chasedown between the Mariner and Stafford. Coast Guard's first baseman got the throw to second in time, but Cahalan seemed to swim around the tag to safety. On the very next pitch, Brown sent a grounder to second base, where it went right between the fielder's legs to allow Cahalan to score.

Bears baseball will look to bounce back on Thursday, March 19th, when they host Western New England University (5-4) at 3:30 PM ET. Coast Guard took last season's Battle of the Bears in Springfield with a 9-8 result in ten innings.