ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Just days removed from a down-to-the-wire series at rival Army, a Top-25 opponent now awaits the Navy baseball team (25-19) on Wednesday night as the Midshipmen are set to play No. 11 Virginia (33-12) in a 6 p.m. showdown at Davenport Field at Disharoon Park in Charlottesville, Va.
 
Airing on ACCN+, the matchup between the Mids and Cavaliers will mark the final midweek contest of the season and the final leg of a five-game road trip for Navy. Wednesday is also set to be the first time the two teams have played since the 2023 season opener.
 
Slick Fielders
Navy has been the best team defensively in the Patriot League, as the Mids' .980 fielding percentage ranks ninth in the country entering the week … The Navy infield has been most impressive, with the team turning 37 double plays that ranks second in the league and 37th nationally … Individually, both senior outfielder Zane Raba and sophomore first baseman Victor Izquierdo have posted 1.000 fielding percentages while senior shortstop has the best fielding percentage (.994) among Patriot League middle infielders … Izquierdo's 291 putouts pace the league.
 
"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 87 times being hit by a pitch lead the Patriot League and rank 18th in the NCAA entering the week … The 87 hit-by-pitches are also a program record, eclipsing the previous record of 79 in 2011 … The Mids have three players who are in the top-100 nationally in getting beaned … Sitting 66th in the nation with 14 hit-by-pitches are Raba and sophomore Brock Murtha, while fellow sophomore Mac McCommons is 94th at 13 hit-by-pitches … Raba and Murtha are tied for third in the Patriot League, while McCommons ranks 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 44 games this year to rank 39th in the NCAA at 1.77 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 eighth 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 19 stolen bases rank fourth in the league and 54th in the country.
 
The Best of April
After missing the final 49 games of last season and having a slow start to 2024, Izquierdo has started to become a force in the heart of the Navy lineup, posting a team-best .304 average during the month of April … Mashing six doubles and a home run across 16 games in April, Izquierdo knocked in 12 RBI and scored eight times while slugging .464 … Senior righty Nolan Jorgenson was nearly lights out in April, allowing four runs over 19.2 innings while appearing in relief five times and making his first collegiate start on April 14 at Holy Cross … Jorgenson posted a 3-0 record during the month of April while registering one save and having nine strikeouts to one walk.
 
Last Time Out
Coming down to the bottom of the ninth in the rubber match, Navy was defeated by Army in the annual Star Series this past weekend at West Point … Battling for first place in the Patriot League with the three-game set, Navy sophomore Tyler Grenn and Army's Justin Lehman both pitched complete games in a 1-0 pitchers' duel on Friday, as the Black Knights' Coleson Titus drove in the only run of the opener on a safety squeeze … Saturday's contest went in favor of Navy, 2-0, thanks to Jorgenson and senior starter Matthew Shirah combining to post the Mids' second shutout of the season while fellow senior Anthony Fiallo drove in the game-winning run on a fifth-inning double … Sunday's finale saw senior Logan Keller go deep as he was joined by Izquierdo in recording two-RBI days, but Chris Barr's ninth-inning walk-off single in the ninth was the final punch in a 7-6 star-clinching Army win.
 
Scouting Virginia
The 11th-ranked Cavaliers sit at 33-12 overall after taking three of four games last week, and are tied for second in the ACC Coastal Division with a 14-10 conference mark following a series win at Boston College … Viriginia is also set to play at VCU on Tuesday night prior to Wednesday's contest with the Mids … Virginia's .335 team batting average stands third in the nation entering the week, with the Cavaliers racking up a nation-leading 548 hits … Bobby Whalen paces the team with a .405 average while Jacob Ference ranks second on the team with a .390 batting average … Hitting at a .286 clip, Harrison Didawick leads the team in home runs (16), runs (58) and RBI (55), while Henry Ford has also posted 55 RBI to go with 15 homers … Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list selections and Preseason All-Americans Ethan Anderson and Griff O'Ferrall are batting .328 and .322, respectively, with O'Ferrall boasting a team-high 11 steals … The top starter for Virginia has been Evan Blanco with a 4.76 ERA across 11 starts, tallying 61 strikeouts in 56.2 innings.
 
Series History
Navy is 10-17 in the all-time series against Virginia, with Virginia winning the last eight meetings … The last Navy win over Virginia was a 9-2 victory on May 31, 1947, a contest that closed a four-game winning streak for the Mids over the Cavaliers … Navy's last meeting with Virginia came in the 2023 season opener, as the Cavaliers run-ruled the Mids, 24-5, in seven innings despite Keller, Nick Burch and Kyle Rausch all tallying multi-hit contests.
 
Up Next
Navy will host Penn State for two games this weekend at Max Bishop Stadium, with Saturday's first pitch slated for 6 p.m. and Sunday's series finale scheduled for 1 p.m.