ANNAPOLIS, Md. – It will be a rematch for the ages, as the second-seeded Navy baseball team (28-21) is set to face top-seeded Army (29-21) in the 2024 Patriot League Championship Series starting this weekend in West Point, N.Y., with both teams vying for an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.
 
With first pitch slated for 1 p.m. each day, the best-of-three series will kick off on Sunday from Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field, while game two will follow on Monday and game three is scheduled for Tuesday if necessary.
 
With the Midshipmen looking to avenge last month's Star Series and claim their first Patriot League Championship since the 2016 campaign, the Black Knights will try to capture their sixth-straight league title as the two rivals face off in the championship series for the first time since 2019.
 
Navy in the Patriot League Tournament
The Mids have won the Patriot League Tournament six times since joining the league in 1993, claiming the league's tournament title in 1994, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2011 and 2016 (No tournament was held in 1995, with Navy earning the title via a first-place finish in the regular season) … Navy is 9-10 all-time as a No. 2 seed in the league tournament, winning the 1999 title as the second seed … Navy clinched a spot in the Patriot League Tournament for the 24th time in program history and the 12th time in the last 13 completed seasons with its second-place finish this season … The Mids are 35-41 all-time in the league tournament and are 9-17 on the road during the Patriot League postseason.
 
Championship-Bound
Navy and Army both had their back pushed against the wall after dropping their semifinal series openers to Holy Cross and Bucknell, respectively, but rallied to claim their series and earn a spot in the Patriot League Championship Series … Despite a five-run first inning in the first game that included a three-run triple from senior Anthony Fiallo, Navy saw Holy Cross score 10 unanswered runs to fall, 10-5, on Saturday … Freshmen led the way in Navy's 7-3 win in game two on Sunday, as eight strong innings from Brady Bendik and a three-RBI contest from Andrew Manning were capped by junior closer Landon Kruer punching out Jack Toomey to force a decisive game three … A three-RBI game from sophomore Victor Izquierdo and a two-hit, five-inning start from senior Matthew Shirah propelled Navy to a 6-2 series-clinching victory in game three, with Kruer pitching two innings himself to earn his second save of the day … Manning batted .600 (6-for-10) in the semifinal round, tallying three runs scored and four RBI, while fellow freshman Jack Killelea hit .571 (4-for-7) while drawing four walks … After falling, 4-3, to Bucknell's complete-game outing by Tyler O'Neill in game one Saturday, Army rallied from a five-run deficit to take game two on Monday and then pulled off another comeback later Monday by erasing a three-run deficit in game three to earn a trip to the championship series.
 
Slick Fielders
Navy has been the best team defensively in the Patriot League, as the Mids' .980 fielding percentage ranks 14th in the country entering the weekend … The Navy infield has been most impressive, with the team turning 41 double plays that ranks second in the league and 46th nationally … Individually, senior outfielder Zane Raba has posted a 1.000 fielding percentage that ranks first in the Patriot League while Izquierdo has the second-best fielding percentage (.997), playing all 49 games at first base … Senior shortstop Eduardo Diaz also has the best fielding percentage (.994) among Patriot League middle infielders.
 
"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 89 times being hit by a pitch sit second in the Patriot League and rank 38th in the NCAA entering the weekend … The 89 hit-by-pitches are also a program record, eclipsing the previous record of 79 in 2011 … The Mids have two players who are in the top-150 nationally in getting beaned … Sitting 128th in the nation with 14 hit-by-pitches are Raba and sophomore Brock Murtha … Raba and Murtha are tied for third in the Patriot League, while fellow sophomore Mac McCommons ranks sixth in the conference with 13 plunkings … The 14 hit-by-pitches also put Murtha and Raba in a tie for third in program single-season history.
 
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 86 bases in 49 games this year to rank 34th in the NCAA at 1.76 steals per game … Currently leading the Patriot League, the Mids' 86 stolen bases are third in program history for a single season … Pacing the league and sitting 21st in the nation with his 28 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 20 stolen bases rank fourth in the league and 63rd 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, as he posted 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.
 
Seniors in the Record Books
As his college career winds down, senior Logan Keller finds himself sixth in program history with 127 career RBI … For his career, Diaz sits ninth in program history with 88 walks and 10th with 24 hit-by-pitches, while his 402 career assists rank second in the Navy record book … Keller's 176 career starts ranks 12th in program history while Diaz's 173 career starts put him 14th … Raba's 25 career hit-by-pitches are tied for eighth in program history and his 40 career steals also rank seventh in Navy's records … Jorgenson is sixth in program history with 60 career appearances, with 59 of those coming in relief.
 
Diaz, Jorgenson Pick Up Major Awards
With the league office announcing major award winners last week, Diaz was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year while Jorgenson earned distinction as the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year … Taking home the league's Defensive Player of the Year award for the second time in three seasons, Diaz became the first player in league history to be a two-time Defensive Player of the Year … Becoming the first Navy player in 19 years to win the league's Baseball Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, Jorgenson joined Toby Moore (1995), Dean Farmer (2003) and Trevor Thompson (2005) as the only four Mids to earn the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year award in baseball.
 
Grenn, Jorgenson and Murtha Earn All-League Honors
The Mids saw sophomore starting pitcher Tyler Grenn selected to the All-Patriot League First Team while Jorgenson (relief pitcher) and Murtha (second base) garnered All-Patriot League Second Team distinction last Wednesday … Grenn, Jorgenson and Murtha each received all-league nods for the first time in their careers … The Mids have now had multiple all-league selections in each of the last 18 seasons finished.
 
Three Mids Named to All-Academic Team
Joining Jorgenson on the Patriot League's All-Academic Team were Shirah and fellow senior Hudson Lehnertz, the league announced last Thursday … Shirah earned the honor for the second-straight season and Jorgenson garnered the accolade for the second time in three years, while Lehnertz received the distinction for the first time … Jorgenson and Shirah become the sixth and seventh Navy players to take home multiple Academic All-League nods, adding to a list that includes Stephen Born, Michael Coritz, Jared Leins, Zach Stevens and Colin Smith.
 
News and Notes
Murtha's .349 average and .479 on-base percentage rank third in the Patriot League, while his 14 doubles are also third in the league … Killelea has batted .375 over the team's last 10 games (eight starts), racking up nine hits, seven runs and eight walks in that span … Kruer's nine saves this season have all come in Patriot League regular-season or postseason play … Manning mashed in Patriot League play with a team-best .337 average while starting all 25 league games, adding on 20 runs scored, seven extra-base hits and 13 RBI … Jorgenson has tallied a 1.89 ERA against Patriot League opponents this season, making nine appearances and tallying 15 strikeouts to six walks over 33.1 innings … Freshman Evan Brown is batting .308 (12-for-39) on the road this year with eight runs scored and 10 RBI … Grenn's 2.60 ERA on the road paces the team, racking up 27.2 innings over four starts and holding opponents to a .160 batting average.
 
Navy Notables vs. Army
Shirah has a 0.52 career ERA when pitching in West Point, tallying 15 strikeouts over 17 innings while allowing just one run on 11 hits and six walks … Fiallo is 4-for-8 this year against the Black Knights with a double, triple and two RBI … Murtha and Manning have both hit .313 (5-for-16) against Army this season, with Manning scoring four times and Murtha accounting for two runs scored and an RBI … Grenn holds a 1.93 ERA against Army this season with three runs allowed in 14 innings over two starts … For his career, Jorgenson has a 1.42 ERA against Army over five appearances, posting nine strikeouts to one walk over 12.2 innings and being part of two shutouts … Shirah's career ERA against Army is 2.96 over five starts, registering 23 strikeouts to 13 walks in 27.1 innings while starting a pair of combined shutouts.
 
Scouting Army
Led by Patriot League Pitcher of the Year Justin Lehman, the Black Knights placed a league-high seven players on the two All-Patriot League squads, including five on the first team … Joining the starter Lehman on the First Team were starting pitcher Matthew Ronnebaum, reliever Andrew Berg, catcher Derek Berg and outfielder William Parker, while third baseman Sam Ruta and outfielder Braden Golinski were all-league second-teamers … Lehman's 1.85 ERA leads the league and ranks third in the country, as the righty has tossed 63.1 innings and held opponents to a .211 batting average … Mike Ruggieri paces Army with 65.2 innings pitched and 70 strikeouts … Parker's .339 average stands fourth in the league and his 59 RBI are the most in the Patriot League, while his 12 homers rank fifth … Ruta's 1.094 OPS and 14 home runs are the second-best in the league and his .632 slugging and 50 RBI rank third in the PL … Berg paces the league with 57 runs scored and 15 homers while also tallying the second-most doubles at 15 … As a team, Army's 4.29 ERA ranks 16th nationally and its 8.12 hits allowed per nine innings are the 17th-lowest in the country.
 
Series History
Navy and Army are deadlocked at 131-131 in the all-time series with each other on the diamond … The Mids are 55-60 when playing the Black Knights in West Point, with Navy's last series win at Army coming in 2018 when the Mids won April 20 at Boston's Fenway Park before completing the weekend sweep by taking both games of an April 21 doubleheader in West Point … The Mids are 2-3 against the Black Knights this season … The two teams split a doubleheader in Annapolis on March 24, with Navy snapping its five-game losing streak to Army with a 5-2 victory in the opener while Army bounced back for an 8-1 win in the nightcap … The first game saw Grenn hold Army to two runs in six innings while Lehnertz, McCommons and Fiallo all had two-hit contests … Lehnertz and Manning both collected two hits in the nightcap as well despite Lehman's quality start for the Black Knights … Despite Grenn's three-hit complete game to open the Star Series on April 26, Lehman's own complete-game shutout help Army grab the 1-0 victory … Shirah and Jorgenson combined for the 2-0 shutout the next day to even series with an RBI double from Fiallo being the deciding factor on offense … The series finale on April 28 saw Keller and Izquierdo both drive in two runs each as the Mids battled back from a 5-2 deficit to take the lead late, but Army's Chris Barr's single walked it off with two outs in the ninth for a 7-6 Black Knights star-clinching win.
 
Army-Navy in the Postseason
Navy is 5-10 against the Black Knights in the Patriot League Tournament … Navy defeated Army in three games in the 2011 championship series in Annapolis, but then lost the 2018 and 2019 championship series at home to the Black Knights … The Mids' lone postseason game in West Point was a 9-4 semifinal loss to Bucknell in 1997 … Navy has never played Army in West Point during the Patriot League postseason.