ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Navy baseball team (23-23, 14-11 PL) is set to wrap up its regular season this weekend, hosting non-conference foe Binghamton (21-19, 9-9 America East) for a pair of games at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
In the Midshipmen's final tune-up before next week's Patriot League semifinal series with rival Army, the Mids and Bearcats are slated for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch on Saturday while Sunday's regular-season finale is also scheduled for a 1:05 p.m. start. Both contests will be streamed on ESPN+ with Scott Wykoff on the call.
 
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 .316 in that span with a .474 slugging percentage … Racking up 11 runs scored and nine 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 six multi-hit games in that span, including a three-hit contest in the April 13 nightcap at Lafayette … On the season, Manning is hitting .261 with a league-leading six homers and a team-high 32 runs scored.
 
Friendly Career Confines
Through three seasons at Navy, Brock Murtha is batting .332 at home with a .452 on-base percentage and .529 slugging clip, with 32 of his 86 hits going for extra bases and the infielder stealing 34 bags … In 52 career home games, Victor Izquierdo has 46 RBI and 51 hits, tallying a .282 home average … Andrew Manning has scored 48 times in 51 career home games, also collecting 58 hits and 37 walks to register a .345 average and .476 on-base clip … Landon Kruer has maintained a 2.34 career ERA in 34 home appearances, getting 47 strikeouts in 50 innings while notching 19 saves … In six home appearances this year, Matt Archibald has posted a 0.95 ERA across 19 innings, allowing six hits to 30 strikeouts … Mason Ceccarelli is batting .306 and reaching base at a .561 clip at home this season, scoring eight times and driving in six RBI in 16 appearances while drawing 20 walks to six strikeouts … Navy has a .287 batting average at home under head coach Chuck Ristano, scoring 338 runs in 52 home games (6.50 runs per game) and stealing 112 bases in that span (2.15 steals per game).
 
Weekend Warriors
Ty DePerno has batted .421 on Saturdays this spring, scoring 10 times and driving in eight more runs in 13 Saturday games … Noah Ditas has hit .545 in seven Saturday appearances as a rookie, while Tyler Bouchard has a .467 average in nine Saturday starts with eight steals … Brady Bendik has notched a 1.82 ERA in four Saturday starts this year … Andrew Manning holds a .279 average in 14 Sunday games this season with a pair of homers, while Bouchard has batted .286 in six Sunday games this year … Matt Archibald has posted a 2.30 ERA in seven Sunday outings this season, racking up 37 strikeouts in 27.1 innings.
 
News and Notes
Mason Ceccarelli brings a 18-game on-base streak into the weekend, hitting .263 (15-for-57) and reaching base at a .475 clip (22 walks) in that span … Victor Izquierdo is hitting .342 in his last 10 games, racking up four doubles while also amassing four runs scored and six RBI … Evan Brown has batted .289 in Navy's last 10 games, registering four runs scored and eight RBI to go with four walks for a .349 on-base clip … Izquierdo paces the team with a .271 average in 21 non-conference games, tallying seven extra-base hits and 19 RBI to go with 10 walk … Tyler Grenn has posted a 2.22 ERA in four non-conference starts this season, notching 15 strikeouts to six walks in 24.1 innings.
 
Navy in the NCAA Stat Rankings
The Mids' 4.84 team ERA ranks 67th in the country while their 8.97 hits allowed per nine innings rank 74th … Navy's 71 total stolen bases and 1.54 steals per game rank 75th and 91st in Division I, respectively … Brock Murtha's 17 hit-by-pitches are 46th nationally while his 20 steals rank 74th among Division I leaders … Brady Bendik ranks 85th nationally with his 7.14 hits allowed per nine innings among qualified pitchers, while his 1.14 WHIP stands 97th in Division I and his 3.00 ERA places 75th nationally … Landon Kruer's eight saves sit 18th in the nation, while Tyler Grenn's 2.51 walks allowed per nine innings ranks 149th in the country.
 
League Leaders
Navy's pitchers have notched a Patriot League-best 4.84 ERA and have allowed a league-low 21 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 fifth 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 also stand third … Brady Bendik is second in the league with a .215 opposing batting average and a 3.00 ERA, fifth with 63 innings and seventh with 52 strikeouts … Landon Kruer's eight saves lead the league.
 
Scouting Binghamton
The Bearcats have won seven of their last nine, including an 8-5 win over Cornell on Tuesday that saw Evin Sullivan belt two home runs and knock in four RBI … Binghamton sits in fourth place in the America East standings with six games remaining in the regular season … Binghamton leads the America East in both hitting (.286) and fielding (.975) and is fourth with a 6.40 ERA … Matt Bolton leads the league with 57 hits and Zach Rogacki is third with a .364 average … Devan Bade ranks second with 41 RBI and Evin Sullivan is second with 11 home runs and third with a 1.065 OPS … Freddy Forgione brings a 24-game on-base streak into the series and Bolton enters on a 20-game on-base streak of his own … Rogacki leads the team with an active hit streak of six games.
 
Series History
Navy will play Binghamton for the first time in program history this weekend … The Mids' last game against an America East opponent was a 4-3 win over UMBC last season on March 5, as Tyler Grenn held the Retrievers to one run in 6.1 innings and Eduardo Diaz tallied two RBI.
 
Up Next
Navy will open the Patriot League Tournament on May 10-11, as it hosts rival Army in the best-of-three semifinal series.