ANNAPOLIS, Md. – After returning to Annapolis for a mid-week home opener following a season-opening road trip, the Navy baseball team (0-4) is back on the road this weekend, heading to Grainger Stadium in Kinston, North Carolina for the Freedom Classic against service academy rival Air Force (1-3) on Feb. 24-26.
 
The Mids open the three-game set against the Falcons with a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday night, turning around for a 2 p.m. start on Saturday and playing a 12:30 p.m. contest on Sunday to close out the series.
 
Probables
Friday: RHP Nate Mitchell (0-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. RHP Doyle Gehring (0-0, 2.25 ERA)
Saturday: RHP Thomas Russell (0-1, 48.60 ERA) vs. RHP Dylan Rogers (0-0, 1.80 ERA)
Sunday: TBA vs. LHP Seungmin Shim (1-0, 1.50 ERA)
 
Series History
For the 10th time in series history, Navy and Air Force will meet in Kinston … The Mids are 15-16 all-time in Kinston against the Falcons … Air Force has won five of the 10 Freedom Classic series, with the 2013 Freedom Classic being a four-game set that was split by Navy and Air Force … Neither side has swept the weekend at the Freedom Classic since the event began in 2011 … Navy is 30-29 overall against Air Force in an all-time series that dates back to 1990, but the Mids are 27-29 against the Falcons in neutral-site contests … The Mids have won five of their last six games against Air Force, taking two of three from the Falcons at the 2022 Freedom Classic and sweeping a three-game set from Air Force in Annapolis in 2020 after that year's Freedom Classic was cancelled due to snow.
 
Back-to-Back Weekends in the Tar Heel State
Navy will play its third, fourth and fifth games of the season in North Carolina with the series against Air Force … Navy previous faced host UNCW and Ohio in Wilmington, N.C., as part of the Hughes Bros. Challenge at Brooks Field this past weekend, going 0-2 … The Mids are 33-30 all-time when playing in the state of North Carolina under head coach Paul Kostacopoulos.
 
Last Time Out
After falling into an early 9-2 hole to Georgetown on Tuesday night, Navy battled back to tie the game at 10-10 in the seventh but were not able to complete the comeback in its home opener, dropping a 18-10 contest to the Hoyas in Annapolis … Junior third baseman Logan Keller paced the Mids with four hits as three other Navy batters recorded multi-hit games, while senior outfielder Kyle Rausch accounted for four RBI and recorded his first collegiate triple … Freshman right-hander Jackson Beattie made his first collegiate start on Tuesday and rookie southpaw Corbin Warner made his collegiate debut in a relief role, while their classmate Tyler Grenn posted three innings of one-run ball in his second appearance of the season.
 
The Murtha Machine
Freshman infielder Brock Murtha has opened his first season at Navy on a tear, tallying nine hits through his first three games with four runs scored and one RBI … After notching one hit in the season opener at No. 19 Virginia, Murtha has put together three-straight multi-hit contests, including a 4-for-4 performance against Ohio … Murtha has also provided value away from the plate, converting on 16 of his 17 fielding chances while splitting time between second bases, shortstop and third base, along with tallying one relief appearance on the mound … Murtha's nine hits are the 19th-most in the nation and lead the Patriot League, while his league-leading .600 batting average ranks 29th in Division I.
 
Keller and Diaz: Iron Horses
Keller and his fellow junior classmate, shortstop Eduardo Diaz, have been mainstays in the Navy lineup since their debuts in 2021, as Keller has now started 81 straight games for the Mids while Diaz is right behind him at 74 consecutive starts for Navy … A 2021 All-Patriot League Second Teamer, Keller led the Mids with 40 hits and 35 RBI as a rookie and followed that up with a team-high four home runs as sophomore … Named the 2022 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, Diaz committed one error the entire 2021 season while reaching base at a .337, improving to a .353 on-base clip in 2022 while posting a .967 fielding percentage in league play … Keller and Diaz, along with Murtha, are the only three Navy batters to record a hit in each game so far in 2023.
 
Calling Their Number
Navy has found success when pinch-hitting, as the Mids' pinch-hitters have combined to go 5-for-11 through four games, headlined by juniors Brian Furey and Hudson Lehnertz each collecting a pair of pinch-hit knocks … Junior outfielder Anthony Fiallo has the lone pinch-hit, extra-base hit, roping a two-run double against Ohio.
 
Using a Deep Bench
Of the 35 players on the Navy roster, 30 Midshipmen saw action during the opening week of games … 14 pitchers were called upon to take the mound, with 10 hurlers seeing more than one inning of work … 16 position players were able to record at-bats over the first four games, as 13 Navy batters were able to collect their first hit of the season.
 
Scouting Air Force
The Falcons opened the season with Army at the Liberty Classic in Cleburne, Texas, going 1-2 against the Black Knights before turning around for a Monday contest at Oklahoma, where the Sooners edged visiting Air Force by an 8-6 score … The reigning Mountain West Conference Tournament champions bring back Collegiate Baseball Third Team All-American and 2022 Mountain West Player of the Year Sam Kulasingam, who is seventh in the nation currently with 10 hits after being named to Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watchlist … Fellow First Team All-Mountain West honoree Jay Thomason has already gone deep twice this season, racking up eight RBI through four games … Duke Benge has already appeared in three of Air Force's first four games out of the bullpen, allowing just one run in 4.2 innings while striking out four batters … Aerik Joe is the only Falcon to produce at least one hit all four games this season.
 
Up Next
Navy returns home on Wednesday, March 1 for a 3 p.m. non-conference tilt against Coppin State.