ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Another road trip is in store for the Navy baseball team (24-16, 14-8 PL), as the Midshipmen begin a five-game stretch away from home on Wednesday afternoon when they play Mount St. Mary's (7-28-1) in a 3 p.m. non-conference contest at E.T. Straw Family Stadium in Emmitsburg, Md.
 
Streaming on ESPN+, Wednesday will be the first meeting between the Mids and Mountaineers since 2022 and kicks off a road stretch that will also see Navy head to West Point for the Star Series against Army Friday through Sunday and then travel to No. 14 Virginia next Wednesday.
 
"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 83 times being hit by a pitch lead the Patriot League and rank 12th in the NCAA entering the weekend … The 83 hit-by-pitches are also a program record, eclipsing the previous of 79 in 2011 … The Mids have three players who are in the top-100 nationally in getting beaned … Sitting 43rd in the nation with 14 hit-by-pitches are senior Zane Raba and sophomore Brock Murtha, while fellow sophomore Mac McCommons is 94th at 12 hit-by-pitches … Raba and Murtha are tied for second in the Patriot League, while McCommons ranks third and sixth in the conference.
 
Naval Aggression
Tallying just 0.62 stolen bases per game last season (31 steals in 50 games to rank 254th nationally), Navy has been exponentially more aggressive under new head coach Chuck Ristano, as the team has stolen 78 bases in 40 games this year to rank 29th in the NCAA at 1.95 steals per game … Currently leading the Patriot League, the Mids' 78 stolen bases are fifth in program history for a single season … Pacing the league and sitting fourth in the nation with his 27 steals, Raba has the third-most ever by a Navy player in a single season and the most since John Cocca's 32 stolen bases in 2002 … Murtha's 17 stolen bases rank third in the league and 46th in the country.
 
Underclassmen Settling into April
Starting all 12 of Navy's games in April, sophomore Victor Izquierdo has batted .333 (14-for-42) for the month while collecting five doubles and a homer while knocking in 10 RBI and scoring seven times … Freshman Andrew Manning has also hit at a .310 average since the calendar flipped, going 13-for-42 with two doubles and a home run, slugging a .429 clip … Sophomore backstop Mac McCommons has batted .421 in April, tallying two doubles while knocking in four RBI and going 8-for-19.
 
Scouting Mount St. Mary's
The Mountaineers come into Tuesday at 7-28-1 overall, 4-8 in MAAC play, and about to begin a stretch of six games in six days … Following Tuesday's contest with Navy, Mount St. Mary's will play a doubleheader at Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday before going to New Rochelle, N.Y., for a three-game series against Iona … JT Landwehr has paced the team with a .306 batting average while his 24 hit-by-pitches rank second in the nation … Efrain Correa Jr. (.303) and Tyler Long (.300) are both batting .300-or-better, with Long also scoring a team-high 31 times … With a team-best seven homers and 30 RBI, Scott Seeker is hitting .295 to go with seven doubles and 30 runs scored … Deven Sheerin paces the team in strikeouts (80) and innings pitched (49.1) over 10 relief appearances and one start, holding a 4.93 ERA while his 14.59 strikeouts per inning ranks 11th in the nation.
 
Series History
Navy holds the 15-8 edge over Mount St. Mary's in the all-time series … The Mids have won their last three trips to Emmitsburg … The two teams split a pair of contests two years ago, as the Mount took a 15-4 victory in Annapolis on March 10, 2022 despite then-sophomore Logan Keller's triple, while the 13-10 win by Navy on April 13 in Emmitsburg featured Keller going 2-for-4 with a homer and two runs scored.
 
Up Next
Navy will begin the three-game, three-day Star Series at Army on Friday, with first pitch set for 4:30 p.m. at Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field.