WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross baseball team showed resilience, relentlessness and toughness all season long — and those traits showed up when it mattered most. 

Sophomore Gianni Royer delivered a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the top-seeded Crusaders an 8-7 win over No. 3 seeded Army West Point to capture the 2025 Patriot League Tournament Championship Monday evening at Fitton Field.

In the bottom of the 10th, sophomore John LaFleur and senior Chris Baillargeon worked four-pitch walks to put runners on first and second with no outs. Royer then lined a 2-2 game winning RBI double down the left-field line to plate LaFleur to give the Crusaders (31-23) their second Patriot League Tournament Championship. 

The title is Holy Cross' first since 2017, breaking a run of six consecutive titles by Army. 

Junior right-handed pitcher Danny Macchiarola was named the Patriot League Tournament MVP after recording a 2-0 record with a 0.53 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP, and 18 strikeouts across 17.0 innings while holding opponents to a .222 batting average. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by senior shortstop Jimmy King, senior first baseman Chris Baillargeon and Royer.

Holy Cross awaits its NCAA Regional opponent during the 2025 NCAA College Baseball Selection Show on Monday, May 26 on ESPN2 at noon.

STARTING ON THE MOUND:

• Junior Jaden Wywoda: (ND), 5.2 innings pitched, seven hits allowed, five runs – three earned, two walks, seven strikeouts.
• Justin Lehman (ND), 6.2 innings pitched, eight hits allowed, six runs – one earned, three walks, one strikeout.

OUT OF THE BULLPEN:

•  Freshman Jake Lenahan (W, 4-2), 4.1 innings pitched, five hits allowed, two earned runs, one walk, seven strikeouts.
•  Trey Ates: (L, 5-5), 2.1 innings pitched, one hit allowed, one earned run, two walks, three strikeouts.

STEPPING TO THE PLATE:

• Gianni Royer: 1-for-6, walk-off RBI double, run scored.
• Jimmy King: 2-for-5, RBI, run scored.
• Senior Connor Peek: 2-for-4, RBI.
• John LaFleur: 1-for-3, RBI, two runs scored, three walks.
• Sophomore Colin Brown: 1-for-5, RBI, run scored.
• Addison Ainsworth: 3-for-6, home run, double four RBI, run scored.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• In the top of the second, Wywoda induced an inning-ending groundout to Peek at third to strand a runner at third base.
• Peek singled to put runners at the corners with one out in the second. Senior Brendan Jones plated King from third on a sacrifice bunt for the 1-0 Crusader lead.
• An Army RBI double in the third tied the game at 1-1.
• Holy Cross regained the edge in the bottom of the third when Baillargeon singled through the left side and King posted a bunt RBI single for the 3-1 lead.
• Another Army RBI double in the fourth with two outs pulled them within one, 3-2.
• Holy Cross loaded the bases in the home half of the fourth with two outs and Royer belted a ball that was caught just shy of the warning track for the third out.
• The Black Knights hit a two-run homer in the top of the fifth to take the lead for the first time in the series at 4-3.
• Army used a sacrifice bunt to add onto their lead, making it 5-3 in the sixth.
• Brown deadlocked the game via a check-swing RBI single to right field, scoring senior Sean Scanlon in the seventh. LaFleur scored on a walk in the seventh to regain the edge toward the Crusader side. A wild pitch brought Brown home to make it 7-5.
• Army again tied the game in the eighth off an infield single at 7-7.
• Royer, who came into the at-bat 0-for-5 in the game, sent a double down the left field line to secure the victory for the Crusaders in the 10th inning. 

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