ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A packed weekend is on the horizon for the Navy baseball team (3-7), as the Midshipmen gets ready for a four-game non-conference series against UMass (3-3-1) at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
The Mids and Minutemen will open the series on Friday at 4 p.m., while Saturday is slated to be a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m., and Sunday's series finale is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch. Games on Saturday and Sunday will be streamed on the Navy Athletics YouTube page, with Scott Wykoff calling the action.

Grenn Starting Strong Again
Junior right-hander Tyler Green is off to another impressive start in 2025 after a hot start to 2024 propelled him into a breakout All-Patriot League First Team campaign … Through his first three starts this season, Grenn holds a 2.08 ERA over 17.1 innings to rank second in the Patriot League in both categories, also tallying more strikeouts (12) than hits allowed (11) and holding opponents to a .180 batting average against … Last season saw Grenn post a 1.32 ERA through his first three starts, striking out seven in 13.2 innings while allowing 15 hits.
 
Last Week
After pulling out a 7-4 midweek win over Manhattan in the home opener, Navy dropped a pair of contests to Sacred Heart, 7-3 and 5-4, but salvaged the weekend by defeating the Pioneers, 11-3, in the series finale … Brock Murtha batted .400 for the four-game week, scoring five times and driving in six runs to go with five steals … Murtha's career-high four steals against Manhattan were the most by a Navy player in a single game since 2005 and was one stolen base shy of matching the program record … Ty DePerno also posted a strong week by hitting .357 with six RBI and two extra-base hits, hitting his first collegiate home run against Manhattan and then doubling as part of a three-hit day in the win over SHU … Spencer Stephens was lights out on the mound in two relief appearances last week, tallying a 0.00 ERA in 3.2 innings over two appearances, striking out four and picking up his first career save.
 
Friendly Confines
Through three seasons at Navy, Brock Murtha is batting .368 at home with a .477 on-base percentage and .579 slugging clip, with 25 of his 70 hits going for extra bases and the infielder stealing 21 bases … In 29 career home games, Victor Izquierdo has 29 RBI and 30 hits, tallying a .294 home average … Andrew Manning has scored 31 times in 29 career home games, also collecting 34 hits and 27 walks to register a .366 average and .520 on-base clip … Landon Kruer has maintained a 2.83 career ERA in 26 home appearances, getting 29 strikeouts in 35 innings while notching 15 saves … Navy has a .303 batting average at home under head coach Chuck Ristano, scoring 214 runs in 29 home games (7.38 per game) and stealing 72 bases in that span.
 
Navy Notables
Brock Murtha batted .380 last March with 20 runs scored and 17 RBI in 20 games, holding a career average of .343 in the month of March … Landon Kruer finished March 2024 with a 0.66 ERA in seven appearances, totaling 12 strikeouts in 13.2 innings and posting five saves … Ty DePerno has been effective with runners on base, hitting .429 (6-for-14) with six RBI in those situations … The Mids are averaging 2.0 steals per game, good for 51st in the nation … Henry Mitchell's seven hit-by-pitches on the campaign rank 19th nationally, while Andrew Manning is 81st in the country with 11 walks this season … Manning's nine runs scored and 11 walks both lead the Patriot League entering Thursday, while Murtha's six steals and Mitchell's seven hit-by-pitches are both top of the league as well.
 
Scouting UMass
The Minutemen arrive in Annapolis on a three-game unbeaten streak, run-ruling their way to winning the last two games of their weekend series at Coppin State and then playing Quinnipiac to a 7-7 tie on Tuesday … Anthony Tirado is swinging a team-best .471 batting average, also leading the Minutemen with eight runs scored, two homers and five steals … Tallying a trio of multi-hit games already and riding a five-game hitting streak, Carter Hansen has knocked in a team-high eight RBI on the strength of two doubles, two homers and a .385 average … Jared Munoz has batted .400 so far, scoring seven runs and notching six RBI in just five games … Braden Sullivan has reached base in every game this season, posting a .320 batting average and .469 on-base clip with five hit-by-pitches … Callen Powers has been leading the rotation with a 1.00 ERA over two starts, allowing one run on two hits over nine innings while punching out seven batters … Andrew Middleton has been unstoppable in two appearances out of the bullpen, registering a 0.00 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 6.1 no-hit innings … UMass is 25th in the nation with 9.3 runs per game while the team's 2.57 doubles per game ranks 21st nationally … Last year's UMass team finished with a 24-29 overall record and a 13-11 mark in the Atlantic 10 as the Minutemen clinched their first A-10 Tournament appearance since 2012, with pitchers Justin Masteralexis and Robbie O'Connor taking home A10 All-Rookie Team selections … UMass bring 22 members of the team from the 2024 campaign, while 13 players join for their first season in Amherst.
 
Visiting Connections
A pair of familiar faces will be in the visiting dugout this weekend, as UMass head coach Matt Reynolds spent seven years as an assistant coach at Navy (2008-14) and redshirt-sophomore pitcher Jack Levine started his collegiate career with the Mids, spending his freshman year in Annapolis (2023) … Reynolds also spent an additional three seasons as the head coach at nearby Washington College (2015-17) before taking the head job at his alma-mater … Additionally, the Minutemen have three Maryland natives on their team in redshirt-junior pitcher Mikey Jensen, redshirt-freshman pitcher Ben Thomason and rookie two-way player Vance Bonior.
 
Series History
Navy maintains a 7-4 edge in the all-time series with UMass … The two programs first met in 2009, with the Mids grabbing a 6-5 win in 10 innings on March 14 of that year … The Mids are 6-4 against the Minutemen in Annapolis … Navy and UMass have played two weekend series against each other before, as the Mids swept a 2020 three-game set by a combined 21-7 score, while 2023 saw the Minutemen take two of the three games despite Navy winning the series finale, 6-4 … That 2023 series featured the collegiate debut of Henry Mitchell, who finished the weekend 1-for-3 with a double, RBI, run scored and a walk.
 
Up Next
Navy leaves Annapolis for a one-game road swing at Fordham (Wednesday, 3 p.m.), before returning home next weekend to open Patriot League play with rival Army.