ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Sophomores Ramon Garza and Kalani Matton had three hits apiece, plus the baseball team got a stellar start from junior Colby Wyatt to earn a split Saturday I the first two games of a series against Navy at Bishop Stadium. Cornell fell in the opener, 2-1, before ending a seven-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory in the 11-inning nightcap.
 
Cornell (1-7) was outhit in both games by Navy (7-7), which has won the Patriot League regular-season title in each of the last four seasons. But the Big Red shrugged off a blown save in the second game to ultimately prevail in its first extra-inning game of the season.
 
The rubber game of the series is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday.
 

GAME 1: Navy 2, Cornell 1 (Box Score)

The Big Red did in the first inning what no team had done before against Midshipmen ace Noah Song this season – plate a run. Matton set the table with a one-out singles, then advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches. A two-out singles to right by senior Josh Arndt drove him in, and Cornell took an early 1-0 lead.
 
Navy got its two runs in the second. With one on and one out, a double moved two runners into scoring position. Another double, this one down the first-base line, followed to drive in both runners and give the Mids a 2-1 lead.
 
After Arndt's RBI single, Song settled in and retired 13 straight until sophomore Ramon Garza's leadoff double to center in the seventh. Arndt followed with a walk, and junior Matt Collins' sacrifice bunt put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with just one out.
 
But Song buckled down to record the final two outs in the way most befitting of him – the strikeout. He fanned the last two batters of the game to up his strikeout total for the day to 16.
 
Freshman Luke Yacinich took the loss, yielding just the two runs in 4.2 innings of work. Junior John Natoli quietly recorded the final four outs.
 

GAME 2: Cornell 3, Navy 2 (11 innings) (Box Score)

In a career-long outing, Wyatt retired eight straight to start the game. The only runners to reach scoring position against him came in the fifth and sixth innings before his removal.
 
The game was still scoreless at that point, but the Big Red pushed across the first run in the seventh. Garza's double to left-center led off the frame, then a wild pitch allowed him to move up third base then a one-out sacrifice fly to right by Arndt send him across the plate and gave he visitors a lead.
 
That advantage was doubled in the next inning on a run-scoring single from Matton, who drove in freshman Austin Flematti.
 
Navy equalized with two runs in the eighth before Natoli re-emerged from the bullpen and shut the proverbial door. He straneded runners at second in the eighth, ninth and 10th innings. While Cornell threatened in the ninth, it did its damage with two out in the 11th. Collins kept the frame alive with a base hit to center, then sophomore Nicholas Binnie and Flematti drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. That set the stage for sophomore Jason Apostle, who was hit by a pitch to drive in the go-ahead run.
 
Natoli responded swiftly, mowing down a pair of Navy batters before a game-ending groundout.