ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The 131st season of Navy Baseball gets started this weekend when the Midshipmen travel south to take on the University of Richmond in a three-game series at Pitt Field in Richmond, Va.
 
Originally slated to be a three-day series, Navy opens its second campaign under head coach Chuck Ristano with an 11 a.m. doubleheader against the Spiders on Friday, Feb. 14, while the two teams will close the series on Saturday, Feb. 15 with a single game at 1 p.m. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
Navy on Opening Day
The Mids hold an all-time season-opening record of 74-54-2 … Navy has dropped its last two season openers after pulling out season-opening victories in 2021 and 2022 … Three members of the Mids' 2024 Opening Day lineup return in juniors Victor Izquierdo, Brock Murtha and Mac McCommons … Navy has faced Richmond three times before in a season opener, losing the 1925 opener, 8-5, avenging it in 1926 with an 11-2 opening-day victory and then dropping the 1927 opener to the Spiders by a 15-8 score.
 
Coaches Reunited
The season-opening series will see Navy head coach Chuck Ristano and assistant Adam Pavkovich see their former boss in the opposing dugout, with former Notre Dame skipper Mik Aoki now entering his second season leading Richmond … Totaling a 569-613-2 record in 23 seasons as a head coach between Columbia, Boston College, Notre Dame, Morehead State and Richmond, Aoki will begin his 24th season on Friday … Aoki hired Ristano to his initial Fighting Irish staff in 2011 as a volunteer assistant before promoting Ristano to assistant coach in 2013, with the two working together for each of Aoki's nine seasons in South Bend … Pavkovich joined Ristano on Aoki's staff as a volunteer assistant in 2014 and 2015 before returning as a full-time assistant coach for the 2019 campaign.
 
Ristano Year One Recap
Head coach Chuck Ristano's first season at the helm of Navy saw a five-win improvement by the Mids and the program post its first winning season since 2021 … Navy finished second in the Patriot League standings and then advanced to its first league championship series since 2019 after a comeback semifinal series win over Holy Cross … The team also put itself in the record books by taking a program-record 89 hit-by-pitches and finishing third in program history with 86 stolen bases … Additionally, Navy tallied the third-best fielding percentage (.981) in program history, finishing as the seventh best in Division I in 2024 and leading the Patriot League.
 
Series History
The season-opening series between Navy and Richmond marks the programs' first meeting since 2002 … In an all-time series that dates back to 1923, the Mids hold a 19-13 edge over the Spiders … Richmond has claimed the last four games in the series … The last meeting between the squads came in the first game of the 2022 NCAA Winston-Salem Regional, where No. 24-ranked Richmond scored a 15-5 win over Navy to propel a run that saw the Spiders win the regional and fall to Nebraska in the third game of the Super Regionals.
 
Scouting Richmond
Coming off a second-place finish in the 2024 Atlantic 10 Tournament, Richmond was picked to finish atop the league alongside VCU in the A10 preseason coaches poll … Putting together a 27-32 record and 13-11 conference mark in Coach Aoki's first season, the Spiders return seven regulars from their 2024 lineup alongside ace Esteban Rodriguez … Rodriguez struck out 90 over 76 innings for a 4.50 ERA, garnering Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors last season … Hitting .367 with a team-best 10 homers, Aaron Whitley was also perfect in 115 fielding chances to earn A10 Defensive Player of the Year … Additionally, Jackson Hinchliffe (4.50 ERA in 32 innings) was named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team and Phil Bernstein (.330 average, 45 RBI) collected All-Academic Team accolades.
 
Mad-Dash Murtha
In addition to leading the team with a .345 batting average en route to All-Patriot League Second Team selection, Brock Murtha found himself taking plenty of the extra bases by posting a team-best 16 doubles, 31 walks and 14 hit-by-pitches … Furthermore, Murtha placed second on the team with 20 stolen bases, just the 13th player in program history to reach 20-plus steals for a season … His 16 doubles ranked second in the Patriot League while his .345 average and 20 steals all finished fourth in the league … Murtha also ended season on a 15-game on-base streak, also posting a 17-game on-base stretch to start the campaign.
 
A One-Two Punch with Lots of Wins
A pair of right-handers return to the Navy rotation after each posted a league-high six wins in 2024 … The emergence of Tyler Grenn and Brady Bendik last season helped stabilize the Mids' weekend rotation on the way to a championship-series showdown with Army, as the duo combined for 24 starts (29 appearances) and 140.2 innings along with three complete games … An All-Patriot League First Teamer, Grenn tallied a 6-5 record and 4.48 ERA in a breakout campaign that saw him make 13 starts and log 72.1 innings, including going the distance in a game twice … Garnering three Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors and all-tournament team distinction, Bendik wrapped up his rookie year with a 6-3 mark across 15 appearances and 68.1 innings, notching one complete game and 53 strikeouts.
 
A Grown Manning
Sophomore outfielder Andrew Manning had an impressive rookie season, getting into the 2024 season opener as a late-game substitution and then not leaving the starting lineup for the rest of the season … Over those 51 games, Manning picked up a pair of Patriot League Rookie of the Week awards while finishing third on the team with a .285 average and recording a .424 slugging percentage and .395 on-base clip … He led team with three triples while also sitting third on the team in homers (3) and runs scored (41), adding on nine doubles and six steals.
 
Road Performers
Last season saw Evan Brown hit at a .300 clip in true road games, tallying 12 hits and 10 RBI while scoring eight times in 40 at-bats … Andrew Manning found his power stroke on the road, mashing three homers and team-best 17 RBI in away games in 2024, also notching 15 runs scored in 23 road games … Right-hander Ryan Bibb put together a 3.38 ERA on the road last year over five appearances, registering nine strikeouts in 16 innings while holding opponents to a .241 average.
 
Familiar Reinforcements
The Mids will get four back four players this season who missed most if not all of last season with injury: senior right-handers Owen Beisty and Liam Golden, junior infielder Henry Mitchell and sophomore right-hander Matt Archibald … Making 13 relief outings as a freshman in 2022, Beisty was slated for the rotation in 2023 before suffering an arm injury during his first collegiate start on opening weekend … Beisty complete his year-plus comeback with a pair of relief appearances for the Mids late last season … A two-year weekend starter for Navy, Golden was shut down with a season-ending knee injury after two starts last season … Golden has racked up 22 career starts for the Mids, posting 67 strikeouts in 91 innings … Mitchell hit .273 as a rookie two years ago and made himself the Mids' primary second baseman, but he missed almost all of last season after having offseason surgery … One of the best Navy pitchers that past two falls, Archibald was looking primed for a weekend starter role in his freshman year before an upper-body injury in January ended his rookie season before it began.
 
Landon Kruer: Saves King
With his save over Army on March 24, 2024, Landon Kruer became the Navy all-time saves leader with 18 … Now holding 25 career saves, Kruer enters his senior year three saves away from matching the Patriot League career record of 28, held by Holy Cross' John Colella (2010-13) … A 2022 NCBWA and Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American and a 2023 All-Patriot League Second Team selection, Kruer holds a 3.47 career ERA in 54 appearances, racking up 72 strikeouts in 80.1 innings while notching a .208 batting average against over his three seasons in Annapolis … Leading the Patriot League in saves in each of his three seasons, the Navy righty posted career highs in innings pitched (36.0) and strikeouts (33) last year while tallying nine saves and a 3.75 ERA over 19 appearances.
 
Naval Aggression
Tallying just 0.62 stolen bases per game in 2023 (31 steals in 50 games to rank 254th nationally), Navy was exponentially more aggressive last season under new head coach Chuck Ristano, as the team posted 86 stolen bases in 51 games to rank 38th in the NCAA at 1.69 steals per game … Leading the Patriot League, the Mids' 86 stolen bases finished third in program history for a single season …. Second on the team to graduated Zane Raba's 28 steals, Brock Murtha's 20 stolen bases finished fourth in the league and 81st in the country.
 
Slick Fielders
Navy was the best team defensively in the Patriot League last season, as the Mids' .981 fielding percentage ranked seventh in the country … The Navy infield was most impressive, with the team turning 0.82 double plays per game that ranked second in the league and 49th nationally … Individually, Victor Izquierdo had the second-best fielding percentage (.997) in the league while playing all 49 games at first base.
 
"We Got Ice"
The Mids were 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 placed second in the Patriot League and 66th in the NCAA … The 89 hit-by-pitches were also a program record, eclipsing the previous record of 79 in 2011… The 14 hit-by-pitches by Brock Murtha finished third in program single-season history.
 
Record Book Watching
Entering the season, Brock Murtha's .433 career on-base percentage ranks 10th in Navy program history … Landon Kruer's 54 career appearances stand tied for 15th in program history, needing 10 more appearances to reach fifth on the list.
 
Trio Named Preseason All-League, Mids Picked Second
Senior reliever Landon Kruer, junior starting pitcher Tyler Grenn and junior second baseman Brock Murtha were among the 12 players to earn a spot on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team, while the Midshipmen were picked to finish second in the league's preseason poll … This marks Kruer's second-consecutive year making the preseason all-league squad while Grenn and Murtha earned the honor for the first time … A 2022 Freshman All-American and a 2023 All-Patriot League Second Teamer, Kruer holds a 3.47 ERA in 54 career appearances with 72 strikeouts across 80.1 innings of work alongside a program-record 25 career saves … Developing into Navy's top starter over the course of the season and winning three Patriot League Pitcher of the Week awards en route to all-league first-team honors, Grenn led the Patriot League in multiple categories entering the postseason … An all-league second-team selection, Murtha mashed from the start of the 2024 season while starting all 51 games for the Mids, leading the team in batting average (.345), doubles (16), slugging percentage (.508), walks (31), hit-by-pitches (14) and on-base percentage (.473) …. Army was picked to win the league once again, receiving 10 first-place votes and 50 total points in the preseason poll, while Navy was slated to finish second with 34 points and Holy Cross came in third at 32 points (two first-place votes) … Bucknell tallied 32 points to land fourth, Lehigh was picked fifth with 20 points and Lafayette rounded out the poll at 12 points in sixth.
 
In the D1Baseball Projections
Picked to finish second in D1Baseball's Patriot League season preview, the publication also projected Navy freshman outfielder Chris Klug to take home Rookie of the Year honors … First baseman Victor Izquierdo (No. 7) and infielder Brock Murtha (No. 12) both make the list for the league's Top 2025 MLB Draft prospects … The Top 2026 Draft prospects list for the league also features two Mids, with catcher Jack Killelea coming in at No. 3 and outfielder Andrew Manning slotted No. 5 … Klug was predicted as the league's top impact freshman, while fellow rookie Navy outfielders Owen Peterson and Mason Ceccarelli earned No. 7 and No. 8 on the same ranking.
 
Up Next
Navy will return to Annapolis for its home opener on Tuesday, Feb. 18 against Coppin State. First pitch at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m.