ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Interstat) — The Navy baseball team staged a stunning seven-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning, erasing a seven-run deficit to stun Dartmouth 8-7 in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.

The Midshipmen, held to just one hit over the first six innings by Dartmouth starter Nate Isler, sent 13 batters to the plate in the decisive seventh, capitalizing on a critical error to score six unearned runs and complete the improbable comeback.

Dartmouth’s Big Green, which had won the series opener 3-1 on Friday, appeared in full control after building a 7-0 lead through five and a half innings. The Big Green struck for three runs in the third inning, highlighted by an RBI double from Taer Rodriguez and a run-scoring single from A.J. DeMastrie. They added another run in the fourth on an RBI single from Nico Bañez.

The lead ballooned in the fifth when DeMastrie launched a two-run homer down the right-field line off Navy reliever David Posey, and Chris Miller followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 7-0.

Isler was dominant for Dartmouth, allowing just one single through six scoreless innings while striking out five. He retired 12 consecutive batters at one point. The game’s trajectory shifted dramatically when he returned to start the seventh.

Patrick Walsh led off the inning with a single for Navy, and Ty DePerno followed with an RBI double to put the Midshipmen on the board, ending Isler’s day. Reliever Aidan Plummer struggled with command, loading the bases on two walks and a single by Noah Ditas that drove in a second run.

With two outs and the bases still loaded, Dartmouth third baseman Milo Suarez dropped a foul pop-up for an error, extending the at-bat for Mason Ceccarelli. Ceccarelli was then hit by a pitch, forcing in a run. Nate Kugler entered from the bullpen but could not stop the bleeding, issuing a bases-loaded walk to Victor Izquierdo and another to Andrew Manning, cutting the deficit to 7-5.

Wash then delivered the biggest hit of the inning, a two-run single to second base that tied the game. DePerno completed the rally by driving in the go-ahead run with his second hit of the inning, a single to left that scored Manning.

John Carroll, who entered in the top of the seventh for Navy, earned the win with three scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit. Kugler took the loss for Dartmouth.

DeMastrie finished 2 for 4 with a home run and three RBIs for Dartmouth, which outhit Navy 9 to 7 but left seven men on base. Bañez added two hits, including a double. For Navy, DePerno went 3 for 4 with two RBIs, with both of his run-scoring hits coming in the seventh-inning rally. Walsh had two hits and two RBIs.

The loss dropped Dartmouth to 2-6 overall this season. Navy improved to 9-4.

The two teams were scheduled to conclude the three-game series with the second game of the doubleheader later Saturday.