By SCOTT CHIUSANO
Senior outfielder Chris Cruz may have only had one hit in the baseball team’s season opening series against Navy this weekend, but it was an important one. Tied at two in the third game of the series, Cruz started off the top of the 11th inning with a double to the gap in right-center, sparking a two-run rally that Navy could not recover from in the final frame.
Cruz — who hit the walk-off home run that sent the Red to the NCAA tournament two years ago — was sidelined for much of the 2013 season.
“It feels really good to be back into the action and have a part in a big team win,” Cruz said. “I had a rough weekend offensively to say the least, so it was big to play a part in the extra innings win.”
That win lifted the Red to the series win, taking two of three games from a Navy team that won 13 conference games last season. All three games were decided by either one or two runs, and according to senior infielder Ben Swinford, this has given the team some confidence moving forward.
ENOCH NEWKIRK / SUN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERChris Cruz hit a double to the gap in right-center at the top of the 11th, breaking the tie and instigating a two-run rally that set up the win for the Red.