ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Sitting atop the Patriot League standings amid a five-game winning streak, the Navy baseball team (17-11, 8-3 PL) hits the road to the Lehigh Valley this weekend for a pair of doubleheaders, visiting Lehigh (16-10-1, 3-4 PL) on Saturday before making the crosstown trek to Lafayette (6-21, 2-5 PL) on Sunday.
 
The Mids' twin-bill with the Mountain Hawks is slated for a noon first pitch on Saturday at J. David Walker Field at Legacy Park, while the Sunday doubleheader with the Leopards is also set for a noon start at Hilton Rahn '51 Field at Kamine Stadium. All four games this weekend are scheduled to be streamed on ESPN+.
 
Bendik Earns PL Rookie of the Week
Freshman right-hander Brady Bendik was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Tuesday … Bendik led the way in the 6-3 win over Lafayette on Sunday to complete the weekend sweep, allowing two earned runs on six hits and three walks while matching a career high with five strikeouts over 7.2 innings … Shutting Lafayette out for the first seven innings, the rookie righty faced the minimum number of batters over the first six innings before stranding a leadoff walk in the seventh … Bendik is the first Navy freshman to work seven-or-more innings in a start since Tommy Goodridge in 2018, while his 7.2 innings is the longest start by a Navy rookie pitcher since Noah Song had an 8.1-inning start at Bucknell on May 15, 2016 and a nine-inning complete game against NJIT on March 20, 2016 … The righty's perfect 5-0 record in five starts paces the Patriot League, while his 4.05 ERA ranks fourth in the league.
 
Mids of March
Navy went on a tear in the month of March, posting a 14-6 record while hitting .300 as a team and tallying a 5.40 team ERA … Over those 20 games, sophomore Brock Murtha paced the Mids with a .380 average while scoring 20 times and knocking in 17 RBI … Senior Logan Keller (.329) and freshman Andrew Manning (.324) also batted above .300 during March, with Keller leading the team with 23 runs scored and 19 RBI while recording 10 extra-base hits, and Manning added on 19 runs scored and 18 RBI … On the mound, junior Landon Kruer posted a 0.66 ERA over seven relief appearances in the month of March, allowing just one run in 13.2 innings and picking up five saves … Senior righty Nolan Jorgenson was also solid in March, registering a 1.88 ERA over five appearances and 14.1 innings.
 
"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 68 times being hit by a pitch lead the Patriot League and rank eighth in the NCAA entering the weekend … The Mids have a trio of players who are in the top-40 nationally in getting beaned … Sitting 22nd in the nation with 12 hit-by-pitches are Murtha and fellow sophomore Mac McCommons, while senior Zane Raba has the 36th-most in the country at 11 hit-by-pitches … McCommons and Murtha are tied for first in the Patriot League while Raba has the second-most hit-by-pitches 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 53 bases in 28 games this year to rank 35th in the NCAA at 1.89 steals per game … Currently leading the Patriot League, the Mids' 53 stolen bases rank 15th in program history for a single season … Pacing the league and sitting eighth in the nation with his 18 steals, Raba has the most by a Navy player since Robert Currie's 26 stolen bases in 2014 … Murtha's 14 stolen bases rank second in the league and 41st in the country.
 
Navy Notables vs. Lehigh
Through 19 career games against Lehigh, senior Eduardo Diaz is batting .286 (18-for-63) with five doubles and 12 runs scored, also walking 10 times … Senior starter Matthew Shirah has logged a 2.38 ERA in three career appearances against the Mountain Hawks, posting 11.1 innings pitched and eight strikeouts … With two career appearances out of the bullpen against Lehigh, Kruer has a 0.00 ERA in 2.2 innings while earning a win and a save.
 
Navy Notables vs. Lafayette
In 17 games against Lafayette, Diaz has a .327 career average (17-for-52) to go with 12 runs scored, 10 RBI and 13 walks … Keller is hitting .348 (23-for-66) against the Leopards for his career, racking up five home runs and 17 RBI while also scoring 14 times … Kruer's 2.45 ERA in his career against Lafayette comes with six saves in six appearances, tallying seven strikeouts in 7.1 innings.
 
Scouting Lehigh
Holding a 13-6-1 record in non-conference action, Lehigh has tallied a pair of wins over Big Ten opponents with opening-weekend victories against Michigan State and then-No. 20 Iowa … After splitting its first Patriot League series with Lafayette, the Mountain Hawks claimed the opener against Army last weekend but dropped the final two games … Ranking second in the league with a .394 average, Rafe Perich has totaled 13 extra-base hits and 34 RBI, also walking 21 times … Justin Butler leads the Patriot League with nine homers and 38 RBI to go with a .312 batting average … Pacing the team with 27 runs scored, Jake Whitlinger has a .311 average and ranks third in the league at 12 steals … Teddy Tolliver has been the workhorse of the pitching staff across seven starts, tallying a 4.41 ERA in 34.2 innings … Leading the team with a 2.30 ERA and 33 strikeouts, Marcus Danchision has racked up 31.1 innings in 10 appearances.
 
Scouting Lafayette
Lafayette's series split with Lehigh two weeks ago was followed by a 13-7 win over Saint Joseph's before being swept by the Mids last weekend … Holding a team-best .323 average, Blaze Fadio is also the team leader with eight doulbes and 27 RBI … Fadio, Ethan Swidler and Ben Patrone all have a team-leading five home runs, with Swidler also racking up 25 walks to rank first in the Patriot League … Adam Bogosian (8.67 ERA) has a team-high 11 appearances and 27 innings … Ranking third in the league with 37 strikeouts, Joe Skapinetz has posted a 7.30 ERA over seven appearances, making four starts.
 
Series History vs. Lehigh
Navy has a 98-53 edge in the all-time series with Lehigh, including a 7-3 mark in the teams' last 10 meetings … The Mids have split or won its last four series with Lehigh … Last year saw Navy go 4-1 against the Mountain Hawks, sweeping a March 25 doubleheader at home before taking two of three in Bethlehem April 29-May 1 … March 25 was kicked off by a 15-1 Navy win thanks to three-hit days from Henry Mitchell and Colin Smith, while the nightcap saw Navy win again, 3-2, on the back of Liam Golden's quality start … April 29 started off with Lehigh shutting out the Mids, 1-0, before Nick Burch doubled and homered in a 5-1 Navy win, while the May 1 game saw Navy run rule its way to a 14-1 victory as Alex Smith grabbed three hits.
 
Series History vs. Lafayette
The Mids moved to 103-50-2 in the all-time series against Lafayette with last weekend's three-game sweep … The Mids have now won five-straight games against the Leopards … Last weekend's sweep saw the Mids battle back for a 6-5 victory in the series opener, following that with a 16-4 run-rule win to close Saturday and posting a 6-3 win on Easter Sunday … The three-game series featured Manning and sophomore Victor Izquierdo both posting .500 averages, while Keller collected six RBI and five runs scored after homering twice and doubling once … Additionally, all three Navy starters went six-or-more innings, with Shirah racking up eight strikeouts to grab his first winning decision of 2024.
 
Up Next
Navy will return home to play Maryland Eastern Shore on April 10.