ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A pair of big Patriot League doubleheaders await the Navy baseball team (11-10, 2-2 PL) this weekend, as the Midshipmen welcome rival Army (9-11, 0-2 PL) on Sunday afternoon before hosting Holy Cross (7-12, 0-0 PL) in a Monday matchup at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
With weather altering the original schedule, the Mids and Black Knights are now set for a 1 p.m. start on Sunday, while first pitch against the Crusaders is also slated for 1 p.m., with all four games this weekend streaming on ESPN+. Veteran Navy broadcaster Joe Miller will handle both ends of the action against Army, while former Bowie Baysox voice Matt Sabados will call the Monday doubleheader with Holy Cross.

Wearing with Pride
Navy will debut a new addition this weekend to its anchor blue jerseys, as each member of the team will be wearing a unit or ship patch from the Navy or Marine Corps … Given to the program by various alumni, family members, friends, mentors and other supporters of Navy Baseball who have served in the Navy or the Marine Corps, each player and coach was able to select a patch to put on their uniform's sleeve … Notable Navy baseball alumni that sent in a patch and will be represented include: Dennis Losh '70, Tom Van Dam '05, DJ Faldowski '06, Alex Azor '12, Matt Kilby '14, Jack Keller '15, Anthony Parentti '15, Christian Hodge '19, Liam Lowery '19, Evan Lowery '20, Michael Coritz '20 and Jared Leins '21.

A Record Day for Diaz
Senior shortstop Eduardo Diaz was unstoppable on Wednesday at Saint Joseph's, going 6-for-6 in Navy's run-rule win and matching the program record for hits in a game … Scoring a career-best five times and lacing a pair of doubles, Diaz tied Steve Mauro's program-record six-hit performance from April 4, 1993 at Lafayette … Diaz also became the seventh player in Patriot League history to achieve a league-record six hits in a game, with the last Patriot League player to achieve a six-hit game being Army's John McCarthy on April 9, 2017 at Bucknell … Additionally, Diaz became the fourth Division I player to register a six-hit this season, joining Western Kentucky's Tait Nunnally, Butler's Carter Dorighi and Arizona's Brendan Summerhill … Diaz's five runs scored Wednesday are also tied for the second most by a Navy player in a game.
 
Grenn Named Patriot League Pitcher of the Week
Coming off a career-long 7.2 shutout innings, sophomore Tyler Grenn was named the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday … Making his fourth start of the season on Friday at Bucknell, Grenn tossed 7.2 innings and allowed just two hits and one hit-by-pitch, as the right-hander registered four strikeouts and had a pair of stretches where he retired 10-straight batters … Grenn's 7.2 innings were the most for a Navy starter since Nate Mitchell logged eight frames at Holy Cross on April 2, 2023, while the last Navy pitcher to throw 7.2-or-more shutout innings was Noah Song against Lafayette on May 11, 2019 … The award marks the first time Grenn has earned weekly honors from the league, while it is the second-straight week a Navy player has earned Patriot League Pitcher-of-the-Week distinction.
 
"We Got Ice"
The Mids have been one of the nation's best teams at getting on base via hit-by-pitch, as Navy's 58 times being hit by a pitch lead the Patriot League and rank fourth in the NCAA entering the week … Just two plunkings behind national leader Coastal Carolina, the Mids have a pair of players who are in the top-15 nationally in getting beaned … Sitting fifth in the nation with 12 hit-by-pitches is sophomore Mac McCommons, while fellow sophomore Brock Murtha has the 15th-most in the country at 10 hit-by-pitches … McCommons and Murtha rank first and second in the Patriot League, respectively.
 
Navy Tidbits
The month of March has been kind to Diaz, hitting .353 since the calendar flipped while scoring 16 times in 13 games … March has also been favorable for a pair of Navy pitchers, as senior Nolan Jorgenson has tallied a 1.86 ERA over four appearances and struck out 10 in 9.2 innings since March 1, while freshman Timmy Virtudes has posted a 1.93 ERA across one start and four relief outings this month, notching eighth strikeouts in 9.1 innings … The Mids are hitting .284 over their last 10 games, averaging 7.7 runs per game in that stretch … Murtha has been a force when playing at Max Bishop Stadium, batting .424 over nine home games while doubling five times, homering once, knocking in 11 RBI and going 6-for-6 on steal attempts.
 
Last Time Out
Led by Diaz's six hits, Navy run-ruled its way to a 17-7 victory over Saint Joseph's in just seven innings Wednesday afternoon at Smithson Field … The Midshipmen had six players record multi-hit games in the final leg of a six-game road swing, while Navy's 19 total hits marked a season high for the team … Plating three runs in the first inning, Navy went on to post four more multi-run frames and held the SJU offense to just four runs over the first six innings … Seniors Zane Raba and Logan Keller both scored a career-high four times, while fellow senior Hudson Lehnertz and freshman Andrew Manning both posted career bests with four RBI apiece … Reaching base three times, sophomore Victor Izquierdo extended his on-base streak to 20 games … Wednesday marked Murtha's first career start on the mound, as he was the seventh pitcher to start a game for the Mids this year.
 
Navy Notables vs. Army
Senior right-hander Matthew Shirah has been a steady hand for the Mids against Army in his career, posting a 2.08 ERA across three starts and logging 13 strikeouts to just four walks over 17.1 innings … Jorgenson has also posted a 2.08 career ERA against Army, pitching 8.2 innings over four appearances and striking out five … Diaz batted .278 in five games against Army in 2023, driving in a pair of runs and walking twice.
 
Scouting Army
The Black Knights enter Sunday on a three-game slide, as losses last weekend at Fairfield and Fordham was followed by a 17-7 defeat to Siena … Splitting its opening weekend and then taking two of three games in Deland, Fla., Army then posted a 13-2 win over rival Air Force on March 2 as part of a 1-2 weekend in Sugar Land, Texas before splitting a four-game set at Georgia State and playing to a 1-3 record last weekend … Army's lineup ranks first in the Patriot League with 24 home runs, while its pitching staff is averaging a league-low 9.55 hits per game … Leading the team with a .347 average, Sam Ruta has a league-high nine homers (22nd nationally) and ranks second in the league with an .813 slugging percentage (32nd nationally) and eight doubles, while Ruta's 24 RBI sit third in the Patriot League … Hitting .309, Braden Golinski has scored a league-best 24 times and registered a league-high 21 walks (33rd nationally) … Matthew Ronnebaum has tallied a league-leading 26.0 innings over five starts, striking out 19 … Mike Ruggieri has posted a league-high 27 strikeouts over 25.1 innings, recording a 4.62 ERA in five starts … Joe Valchar has a 8.78 ERA across a team-high eight relief appearances.
 
Series History vs. Army
Navy is 129-128 in the all-time series with Army … The Black Knights have won the last five meetings between the teams and are 9-1 in the last 10 games since Navy claimed the 2021 Star Series … Navy has gone 60-62 against Army in Annapolis, with the Mids' last home win over the Black Knights coming on May 18, 2019 … Army swept the 2023 season series, winning a Monday doubleheader at West Point on April 3 before taking all three games in Annapolis on April 22-23 … Despite Matthew Shirah recording a career-high eight strikeouts and holding Army to one run over 6.1 innings, Navy lost the first game of the doubleheader at West Point in extra innings, 2-1, while the nightcap saw the Black Knights' shut out the Mids, 5-0, with Sam Ruta racking up four RBI … Homers from Nick Burch and Kyle Rausch were not enough in the Star Series opener in Annapolis, as Army homered four times to defeat Navy, 11-4 … Army clinched the Star Series the next day with a 3-2 win despite Eduardo Diaz driving in two runs, while the weekend finale ended in another Army shutout, 10-0.
 
Navy Notables vs. Holy Cross
Through 14 career games against Holy Cross, Diaz has posted a .417 average (20-for-48) with 11 runs scored and nine RBI, also collecting five extra-base hits … Lehnertz has batted .333 (9-for-27) against Holy Cross in his career, scoring five times and recording seven RBI… Raba has a lifetime average of .308 (12-for-39) against Holy Cross, racking 12 runs and seven RBI … Sophomore Jackson Beattie has made two career appearances against Holy Cross, registering a 2.25 ERA over four innings and notching five strikeouts with one save.
 
Scouting Holy Cross
The Crusaders have won four of their last six games, rebounding after a five-game losing streak while playing out west at Hawaii and UC Riverside … Holy Cross also picked up a ranked win during the second weekend of the season, winning a 13-10 extra-inning contest at then-No. 24 Kansas State on Feb. 24 … Chris Baillargeon led the way in the Crusaders' 13-11 win over Brown on Tuesday, registering two runs scored and two RBI as part of a two-hit contest … Baillargeon leads qualified batters with a .317 average  and 15 walks … Jake McElroy has batted .326 over 11 starts, leading the team with 15 RBI and eight extra-base hits … Holding a .310 average, rookie Braden Connors hit for the cycle in a March 13 win over UMass … Alex Bryant leads the Patriot League with both his 27 strikeouts and .217 batting average against, logging a 4.81 ERA over 24.1 innings … Luke LeMond is second in the league with a .222 average against and third with a 3.97 ERA over 22.2 innings … 2023 Patriot League Rookie of the Year Jack Toomey and fellow 2023 All-Patriot League Second Team selection Sean Scanlon have both not played in the last three weeks.
 
Series History vs. Holy Cross
Navy has won the last seven games against Holy Cross, moving to 88-52 in the all-time series … The Mids are 10-5 over the Crusaders' last 15 games in Annapolis, including a three-game sweep last season … Last year saw Navy take all five meetings, winning an April 2 doubleheader in Worcester before claiming all three games the next weekend in Annapolis … Backed by a career-high eight frames from Nate Mitchell, Navy took the first game of the season series, 7-5, in extra innings, while the April 2 nightcap saw Diaz tally three hits and Liam Golden throw five innings of one-run ball in a 5-2 win in Worcester … A seven-inning complete game from Mitchell helped pick up a 3-1 win in the weekend opener six days later in Annapolis, while the second game saw Alex Smith and Nick Burch both tally two-hit performances in a 6-4 victory … The series finale included a Burch homer to lead off the first inning, as Navy completed the sweep with a 5-2 win.
 
Up Next
Navy continues the homestand on Wednesday afternoon, hosting Maryland Eastern Shore at 3 p.m.