Saturday win over Rox caps off Navs homestand

The North Shore Navigators took the field on Saturday night looking to sweep their four-game homestand and win their fifth straight game. The Brockton Rox came in on top of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League East Division, but North Shore defeated them, 5-2. The win kept the Navigators? playoff hopes alive.The home team struck first in the bottom of the second inning. Chad Martin (Bowdoin) hit a double to right field and after he advanced to third base on a wild pitch, Alex Burridge (Southeast Missouri State) drove him home on an infield single.The Navigators continued to score in the third inning. With two on and two out, Sean O?Neill (Merrimack) hit a 2-RBI double down the left field line to extend the lead to 3-0.Rich Baerga (St. Thomas Aquinas) drove home the team?s final runs in the bottom of the fourth inning with a two-run homer to left center field. Baerga had three hits in the game.The Rox made some noise in the top of the seventh inning. With runners on second and third and two outs, Alex Valenti (St. Joseph?s of Maine) got Tom Marcinczyk (Rutgers) to hit a grounder to the shortstop, but Trevor Massey (BC) misplayed the ball and two runs scored.That would be all the offense the Rox would generate, however, as Mike Weisman (Columbia) pitched a scoreless eighth and Kyle Gauthier (Hartford) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up the save.Pitching was the key to success for the Navigators on Saturday night. Brandon Bingel (Bryant) got his first start of the year and pitched extremely well, giving up just one hit in six scoreless innings. The Rox only had two hits all game, both by Jacob Marotta (Bryant).The Navigators return home to Fraser Field on Wednesday night in the regular-season home finale.