ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Following a nine-game homestand, the Navy baseball team (13-11, 5-2 PL) is set to make its first Patriot League road trip of the season this weekend, traveling up to rival Army (9-13, 4-3 PL) on Friday and then longtime foe Holy Cross (11-13, 3-1 PL) on Saturday for a pair of doubleheaders.
 
Winning 10 of their last 12 games, the Midshipmen are slated for a 1 p.m. twin-bill Friday afternoon against the Black Knights at Johnson Stadium at Doubleday Field in West Point, N.Y. The Mids will then play two games against the Crusaders starting at 1 p.m. Saturday at Fitton Field in Worcester, Mass. All four games will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
Kruer Breaks League Record
Navy closer Landon Kruer notched his Patriot League-record 29th career save in Saturday's game one win over Bucknell, passing former Holy Cross pitcher John Colella (28 saves) for top spot in the league record book … Currently leading the Patriot League with four saves this season, Kruer has previously led the league in saves each of the previous three campaigns … Kruer's 29 career saves also make him the active career leader across all three NCAA divisions.
 
Return of the Jack
Jack Killelea has been on a tear offensively since returning from a preseason injury on March 7, batting .364 and reaching base at a .517 clip in his 14 starts while finding himself in the heart of the Mids' order … Navy has gone 10-4 since Killelea returned to the lineup … Reaching base in every game played so far, Killelea has collected three extra-base hits and drawn 11 walks to help score 12 runs … As a rookie last season, Killelea batted .292 in 29 games played on top of 17 runs scored and 10 RBI.
 
March is for the Brown Bear
Evan Brown has morphed into one of the Mids' most consistent hitters since the calendar hit March, batting .321 while starting at third base in all 16 of Navy's games this month … The infielder has tallied 12 runs scored, 10 RBI and seven extra-base hits in that span, also drawing eight walks to seven strikeouts … Brown brings a 15-game on-base streak into the weekend … After having an 11-game hit streak snapped on Saturday, Brown has responded with three-straight multi-hit games, tallying an extra-base hit in each of those three contests.
 
Road Dogs
Navy batted .247 as a team in 23 road games last season, posting a .349 on-base percentage in those contests … Evan Brown has batted .268 in 18 career road games, collecting 14 RBI and drawing 10 walks … Through 26 road games in his career, Andrew Manning has totaled four homers, 18 runs scored and 18 RBI … Jack Killelea is swinging .289 in 13 career road contests, scoring eight times.
 
News and Notes
Jack Killelea is hitting .387 in Navy's last 10 games, scoring 10 runs and drawing 10 walks … In the last 10 games, Ty DePerno has racked up 12 RBI and 11 runs scored, while Victor Izquierdo has knocked in 14 RBI with a .265 batting average … In Navy's last 10 games, Landon Kruer has made five appearances and logged 7.2 innings, striking out seven and walking none while notching three saves … Henry Mitchell's five RBI on Tuesday are the most by a Navy player this season … Evan Brown has a 15-game on-base streak, while Jack Killelea has reached base safely in 14-straight contests … After punching out nine on Sunday against Bucknell, Matt Archibald is the first Navy pitcher with multiple performances of nine-plus strikeouts in a season since Charlie Connolly in 2021.
 
Career Snapshots in the PL
In 10 career Patriot League starts, Brady Bendik has maintained a 4.32 ERA over 50 innings, striking out 40 and notching a 5-3 record … Tyler Green has posted a 4.25 ERA across 10 career appearances in league play, totaling 59.1 innings and 24 strikeouts while making nine starts … Landon Kruer has a 2.76 ERA in 30 career Patriot League games, racking up 36 strikeouts in 45.2 innings and 20 saves … Evan Brown has batted .309 in 19 career league games, scoring 10 runs and driving in eight RBI while walking seven times … Ty DePerno has posted a .375 batting average in his first seven league games, boasting 10 RBI and four extra-base hits … Hitting .302 in 20 league contests over the past two seasons, Jack Killelea has tallied 12 runs scored and seven RBI while drawing nine walks … Andrew Manning has a .302 average in 32 career league games, scoring 22 runs and posting 17 RBI with four homers.
 
League Leaders
Navy's pitchers have notched a Patriot League-best 4.78 ERA and .255 batting average against this season, with the Mids also posting a league-leading .969 fielding percentage … The 21 RBI from Victor Izquierdo rank second in the Patriot League … Ty DePerno's .447 on-base percentage ranks fourth in the league, as do Andrew Manning's 17 walks … Henry Mitchell's 11 hit-by-pitches are tied for the league lead … Brock Murtha's 13 steals are the second most in the Patriot League … Tyler Grenn's 3.25 ERA and 36 innings both rank second in the league … Brady Bendik has held opposing batters to a .183 average, the best in the Patriot League … Matt Archibald's 30 strikeouts are tied for fourth in the conference.
 
Navy in the NCAA Stat Rankings
The Mids' 4.78 team ERA ranks 70th in the country while their 8.86 hits allowed per nine innings and 1.49 WHIP both slot 88th nationally … Navy's 48 total stolen bases and 2.0 steals per game both rank 53rd in Division I … Henry Mitchell's 11 hit-by-pitches put him 33rd in the country while Brock Murtha's 13 steals rank 47th among Division I leaders … Brady Bendik ranks 65th nationally with his 6.16 hits allowed per nine innings among qualified pitchers.
 
Navy Notables vs. Army
With a 3.95 ERA in three career appearances against Army, Brady Bendik has logged 10 strikeouts in 13.2 innings to just three walks … Ty DePerno hit .455 in the Star series with Army earlier this month, registering three runs and five RBI … Owen Beisty has a 0.00 ERA against Army in three career outings, striking out four in 2.2 innings … Jack Killelea has batted .296 in his career against the Black Knights, scoring four times with two doubles.
 
Navy Notables vs. Holy Cross
Jackson Beattie holds a 1.50 ERA in three career outings against Holy Cross, striking out seven in six innings … Liam Golden has a 4.30 ERA in three career appearances against the Crusaders, holding a 2-0 record and racking up nine strikeouts from those outings … Jack Killelea batted .385 in five games against Holy Cross last year, while Andrew Manning hit .429 with nine RBI in eight contests against the Crusaders in 2024 … Mac McCommons batted .375 in four games against Holy Cross last season, while Henry Mitchell hit .333 in five games against Holy Cross back in 2023 … Brock Murtha has hit .306 in 13 career contests against the Crusaders, scoring 14 runs and stealing four bases.
 
Scouting Army
The Black Knights of the Hudson bounced back after dropping the league-opening Star Series by winning four-straight games, including a Saturday sweep at Lafayette and the first game of a Sunday doubleheader at Lehigh, but have since suffered a weekend-finale loss to Lehigh and then a 8-3 midweek defeat to Fairfield … Addison Ainsworth is pacing Army with a .317 batting average while registering 15 runs scored and 21 RBI along with a team-high 15 walks … William Parker has hit .314 since returning from injury, racking up three doubles and three homers in 13 games while accounting for 12 runs and 12 RBI … Jack Quinlan has had a breakthrough season as the team's starting catcher, batting .274 with seven doubles and three homers in 18 starts … Justin Lehman has continued to pitch like an ace with a 3.37 ERA through six starts, tallying 21 strikeouts in 34.2 innings … Robbie Penswick has posted a 3.54 ERA in eight outings, notching three saves, while Andrew Berg has maintained a 3.99 ERA across seven appearances, recording 33 strikeouts in 29.1 innings … Chris Barr leads the league with three triples while Ainsworth ranks second in the Patriot League with 21 RBI … The Black Knights' 2.05 doubles per game rank 75th in the country while their 0.27 triples per game slot 88th nationally ... Barr's 0.50 steals per game put him 77th in the country, while Berg's 4.71 strikeout-to-walk ratio sits 91st in Division I.
 
Scouting Holy Cross
The Crusaders broke out of a mini-slump with a pair of run-ruled win at Lehigh on Saturday and splitting Sunday's doubleheader at Lafayette to start league play, but fell in a tightly-contested 14-13 loss to Harvard on Tuesday … Friday's twin-bill with Bucknell will mark the first home games of the season for Holy Cross … Chris Baillargeon paces the Crusaders and the Patriot League with his .389 average, posting eight doubles while racking up 20 runs scored and 16 RBI … Jimmy King has hit .385 to go with a league-leading 23 RBI and 37 hits … Gianni Royer (.296) and CJ Egrie (.253) have both scored a team-best 24 runs, while Royer, Egrie and King all have double-digit steals … Danny Macchiarola has led the staff with a 4.08 ERA and a league-best four wins, totaling the third-most innings in the league (35.1) and sharing the PL lead with 35 strikeouts … Holy Cross has a league-high .279 team batting average, .392 slugging percentage and .393 on-base clip … The Crusaders' 170 hits and 62 stolen bases lead the Patriot League … Those 62 stolen bases also rank 14th nationally, as do the team's 2.58 steals per game … Sean Scanlon's 12 hit-by-pitches put him 24th nationally … King's 37 hits rank 62nd in Division I, while his 1.54 hits per game slot him 83rd nationally … Egrie's 15 steals rank 31st in the nation and Royer is behind him at 47th with his 13 stolen bases.
 
Series History vs. Army
Navy trails Army in the all-time series, 134-133, with the Mids posting a 56-64 record against the Black Knights in West Point … Navy will look to claim the regular-season series against Army for the first time since taking two of three in 2021, while the last time Navy won a five-game regular-season series over Army was 2018 … Last season saw Army claim the regular-season series, 3-2, including taking the Star Series in April, and then sweep Navy in the Patriot League Championship … Navy answered back by winning this year's Star Series in Annapolis earlier this month … Backed by Brady Bendik's strong start and Ty DePerno's two-run blast, Landon Kruer picked up his league-record-breaking save in the 4-3 weekend-opening win, but Army countered with a 5-4 victory in Saturday's nightcap despite a two-run homer from Andrew Manning … In the series finale Sunday, Manning had another two-run bomb and DePerno ripped a two-run hit on his own to power a 5-3 comeback win to hand Navy the Star … Claiming the program's first Star Series since 2021, Navy's series win two weeks ago also marked the program's first time winning the baseball star on its home field since 2016.
 
Series History vs. Holy Cross
Navy holds a 93-55 edge in the all-time series with Holy Cross … The Mids are 6-4 in their last 10 games in Worcester … Navy is 14-6 in the past 20 games in the all-time series … After Navy swept the season series in 2023, the Mids then went 3-2 in the 2024 regular season against Holy Cross before battling back to claim the best-of-three Patriot League semifinal series against the Crusaders in Annapolis last May … The Mids swept a March 25 doubleheader at home before dropping two of three in Worcester on April 13-14 … The semifinal series opened with Holy Cross rallying for a 10-5 win despite a five-run first inning from Navy on Saturday, but the Mids battled back with victories of 7-3 and 6-2 on Sunday to advance to the league championship … Closer Landon Kruer slammed the door shut on the Crusaders both times, while the Mids got three-RBI contests from Andrew Manning in Sunday's first game and from Victor Izquierdo in the nightcap.
 
Up Next
Navy will return home to host Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday, April 2. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.