ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy baseball team (4-7) is set to complete a home-and-home series on Wednesday, March 8, as the Midshipmen visit Georgetown (6-5) at the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy in Washington, D.C.
 
First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. between the Mids and Hoyas, as Navy will look to avenge a home-opening loss to GU back on Feb. 21.
 
Probable Starters
Sophomore RHP Liam Golden (1-1, 23.40 ERA) vs. Freshman RHP Kai Leckszas (0-0, -.-- ERA)
 
Series History
Navy leads the all-time series with Georgetown by a 65-49 margin, taking six of the last 10 meetings … The Hoyas do have a 3-2 edge over the last five matchups, outscoring the Mids, 46-34, in those five contests … Navy is 16-10 against GU when playing on Georgetown's home field, winning the last five meetings between the teams at the Hoyas' designated home field … The last time Navy and Georgetown squared off in Washington, D.C. proper was March 12, 1997, as the Mids took home a 9-1 victory that day … Georgetown won the first meeting between the ballclubs this season, grabbing an 18-10 victory over Navy in Annapolis on Feb. 21 in the Mids' home opener …  That Feb. 21 contest saw the Hoyas score eight runs in the final two innings to spoil the Mids' rally over the sixth and seventh innings that erased a 9-2 GU lead … Navy's Logan Keller and GU's Michael Eze both had four-hit performances, as 10 different players recorded multi-hit games between the two teams.
 
Last Time Out
The Mids were able to avoid the weekend sweep with their 6-4 win over UMass on Sunday … The first half of Saturday's doubleheader with the Minutemen saw Navy unable to protect a 2-0 lead in the series opener despite a career-best seven strikeouts from Nate Mitchell over five innings, as UMass' Carter Hanson hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the sixth inning for a 4-2 UMass win … Game 2 of the Saturday twinbill featured UMass notching 14 hits and capitalizing on six Navy errors en route to a 14-3 win over the Mids … Sunday's series finale had the Mids score six runs across the first three innings, while Navy starter Thomas Russell allowed just two earned runs in five innings and the bullpen duo of Reece Early and Landon Kruer held the Minutemen scoreless over the final 12 outs, as the three pitchers combined to strike out 10 UMass batters.
 

Kruer closes it out and the Mids win!#GoNavy | @PatriotLeagueTV pic.twitter.com/obIV4dS56P

— Navy Baseball (@NavyBaseball) March 5, 2023

 
Slump-Breaking Smitty
After tallying just two hits over the team's first seven games, senior catcher Alex Smith has broken out of his cold spell with a four-game hitting streak that has featured the backstop racking up three extra-base knocks … After smashing his first home run of the season against Coppin State, the Laguna Hills, California native raked two hits including a double in the series opener with UMass before hitting another double in the second part of the Saturday doubleheader … Smith closed out the weekend by reaching base twice on Sunday, scoring once while registering a single and a hit-by-pitch.
 
Freshmen Fitting In
Nine of Navy's 10 freshmen have made their debut in the Navy blue and gold, with several plebes already carving out key roles for the Mids … Notre Dame transfer Brock Murtha has started every game for Navy this season and ranks second on the team with 12 hits while spending the majority of the time at second and third base … Victor Izquierdo was the Mids' opening-day first baseman before suffering a season-ending injury at Virginia … Mac McCommons has made four starts behind the plate for Navy, and threrw out his first collegiate baserunner in the back end of Saturday's doubleheader with UMass … Right-handers Jackson Beattie and Tyler Grenn are tied for second on the team with four relief appearances each, as Beattie has one save over 5.2 innings of work and Grenn has thrown the fifth-most innings on the team at seven.
 
Scouting Georgetown
The Hoyas will play back-to-back midweek games this week, heading to George Mason on Tuesday before hosting Navy on Wednesday ahead of a weekend series against Hartford … Georgetown enters the week at 6-5 overall, having dropped three games this past weekend in Greenville, N.C. … The Hoyas fell 18-3 against Long Beach State on Friday and lost 4-3 to Indiana on Saturday … GU nearly tied weekend host No. 9 East Carolina in the eighth inning when the Hoyas made it 3-2, but ECU used an eight-run bottom of the eighth to claim an 11-2 win … Ubaldo Lopez paces the team with a .314 batting average and 11 RBI, while Owen Carapellotti and Christian Ficca enter the week hitting .282, with Lopez and Carapellotti tied for the team lead at three homers apiece … Former Michigan State Spartan Zaid Walker has a team-best three stolen bases … Lafayette transfer Jake Bloss leads the Hoyas with 14 strikeouts and a 2.70 ERA in 13.1 innings over three appearances, while Andrew Williams (3.60 ERA) paces GU with 15 innings tossed and Jordan Yoder has a team-high six relief outings this season.
 
Up Next
Navy hosts Princeton in a three-game set this weekend, March 11-12. The Mids and Tigers are slated to play a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday before closing the series on Sunday with a single game at 1 p.m. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+, with Scott Wykoff calling all the action.