ANNAPOLIS, Md. – For the third-consecutive season, the Navy baseball team (23-22) travels to perennial ACC powerhouse Virginia (24-16), with the two sides set for a 3 p.m. first pitch Wednesday afternoon at Davenport Field at Disharoon Park in Charlottesville, Va. [NOTE: Start time was moved up from the previously-scheduled 4 p.m. due to potential weather]
 
Airing on ACC Network Extra, the matchup between the Midshipmen and Cavaliers will mark the final midweek contest of the season and the final leg of a four-game road trip for Navy.
 
PL Semifinals Coming Back to Annapolis
Navy locked up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament with its Sunday win over Lehigh, securing a home playoff series for the second-straight year … Finishing tied for second place in the league standing with Army at 14-11, the Mids earned the tiebreaker and a right to home-field advantage in the best-of-three semifinal round with its 4-1 regular-season record over the Black Knights that included a Star Series win in Annapolis on March 15-16 and a March 28 doubleheader sweep at West Point … Navy will also be playing in the league's postseason tournament for the third-straight year and the 13th time in the last 14 completed seasons.
 
Archibald Named Patriot League Pitcher of the Week
Putting up a pair of dominant starts last week, Navy sophomore Matt Archibald was named the Patriot League Pitcher of the Week on Monday … The right-hander totaled 11 strikeouts in 10 innings of work, holding the opposition to just three hits and one unearned run … On the year, the sophomore has tallied a 2.84 ERA across 11 appearances and nine starts, racking up 53 strikeouts in just 38 innings and holding opponents to a .113 batting average … Taking home the award for the first time in his career, Archibald is the fourth Navy pitcher to earn the league's Pitcher of the Week award this season, joining Tyler Grenn, Landon Kruer and Brady Bendik.
 
Kruer Named to Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List
Navy senior right-hander Landon Kruer was one of 56 relief pitchers named to the Midseason Watch List for the 20th annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, members of the NCBWA announced last week … Kruer is one of nine players named to the midseason list who were previously selected to the award's preseason watch list back in February … Kruer also appeared on the Stopper of the Year midseason watch list in 2023 … The NCBWA will announce the finalists on Wednesday, June 4, with the winner being named on Friday, June 13 at the 2025 College World Series.
 
Kruer Breaks League Record
Navy closer Landon Kruer notched his Patriot League-record 29th career save in the March 22 game one win over Bucknell, passing former Holy Cross pitcher John Colella (28 saves) for top spot in the league record book … The Navy closer now holds 33 career saves in total … Currently leading the Patriot League with seven saves this season, Kruer has previously led the league in saves each of the previous three campaigns … Kruer's now-33 career saves also make him the active career leader across all three NCAA divisions.
 
Manning Powering Up
Andrew Manning has been heating up for Navy over his last 15 games, hitting .357 in that span with a .518 slugging percentage … Racking up 11 runs scored and 11 RBI in that stretch, the sophomore has tallied three doubles and two home runs while also adding on four walks and two steals … Manning has seven multi-hit games in that span, including a three-hit contest in the April 13 nightcap at Lafayette … On the season, Manning is hitting .268 with a league-leading six homers and a team-high 32 runs scored.
 
Road Dogs
Navy has tallied a 4.26 team ERA on the road this season, holding opponents to a .251 batting average … Ty DePerno is batting .308 in 14 road games as a rookie, getting on base at a .462 clip … Evan Brown has batted .315 in 15 road games while knocking in 11 RBI, improving his road career batting average to .309 with 22 RBI in 29 road appearances … After batting .105 on the road last year, Tyler Bouchard is hitting .357 in seven away games this season to go with six walks … A big weekend at Lehigh boosted Victor Izquierdo's road average for the season to .320, including four doubles in 15 starts.
 
News and Notes
Mason Ceccarelli brings a 17-game on-base streak into Wednesday's contest, hitting .264 (14-for-53) and reaching base at a .487 clip (22 walks) in that span … Evan Brown has batted .325 in Navy's last 10 games, producing four extra-base hits and nine RBI … With a .303 average in his last 10 games, Brock Murtha has also used five walks and seven hit-by-pitches to boast a .489 on-base percentage in those 10 starts … Spencer Stephens has pitched in five of Navy's last 10 games, tallying a 1.69 ERA in 10.2 innings with seven strikeouts … Victor Izquierdo paces Navy with a .269 average in non-conference games this year, racking up 18 RBI in 20 games alongside 10 walks.
 
Navy in the NCAA Stat Rankings
The Mids' 4.85 team ERA ranks 67th in the country while their 8.97 hits allowed per nine innings rank 76th … Navy's 71 total stolen bases and 1.58 steals per game rank 72nd and 85th in Division I, respectively … Brock Murtha's 17 hit-by-pitches are 42nd nationally while his 20 steals rank 66th among Division I leaders … Brady Bendik ranks 91st nationally with his 7.14 hits allowed per nine innings among qualified pitchers, while his 1.14 WHIP stands 98th in Division I and his 3.00 ERA places 76th nationally … Landon Kruer's eight saves sit 17th in the nation, while Tyler Grenn's 2.51 walks allowed per nine innings ranks 150th in the country.
 
League Leaders
Navy's pitchers have notched a Patriot League-best 4.85 ERA and have allowed a league-low 20 homers … Andrew Manning's six homers are tied for the conference lead … Brock Murtha leads the league with 17 hit-by-pitches and Henry Mitchell is sixth in the league with 12 hit-by-pitches … Murtha's 20 steals rank fourth in the PL as well … Tyler Grenn is third in the Patriot League with 64.2 innings pitched, while his 18 strikeouts looking stand third … Brady Bendik is second in the league with a .215 opposing batting average and 3.00 ERA, fifth with 63 innings and seventh with 52 strikeouts … Landon Kruer's eight saves lead the league.
 
Scouting Virginia
The Cavaliers are 7-3 in their last 10 games heading into Tuesday night's contest against VCU, coming off a series win at No. 24 Georgia Tech … Eric Becker is pacing the team with a .364 average to go with 18 doubles, totaling 45 runs scored and 40 RBI to lead Virginia in those categories as well … Batting .315, Chris Arroyo has blasted a team-leading nine homers while accruing 38 RBI … Returning stars Henry Ford (.355), Aidan Teel (.318) and Henry Godbout (.315) all have averages above .300 as well while starting all 40 games for UVA … Tomas Valincius has a 5.05 ERA in 11 appearances (10 starts) while logging a team-best 51.2 innings, while Jay Woolfolk holds a 5.11 ERA in 49.1 innings (10 starts) to go with a team-high 60 strikeouts … Wes Arrington has tossed 24.1 innings in a team-high 18 relief appearances with a 5.55 ERA … Virginia's .307 team batting average ranks 35th nationally while the Cavaliers' pitching staff ranks 29th with 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings.
 
Series History
Navy is 10-18 in the all-time series against Virginia, with Virginia winning the last nine meetings … The last Navy win over Virginia was a 9-2 victory on May 31, 1947, a contest that closed a four-game winning streak for the Mids over the Cavaliers … Navy's last meeting with Virginia came in 2024, when the Cavaliers pulled off a 10-0 run-ruled win on May 1, highlighted by Henry Godbout's two-hit, three-RBI performance.
 
Up Next
Navy will host Binghamton for two games this weekend to close out the regular season. Both Saturday and Sunday are set for first pitch at 1:05 p.m.