ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Renewing their historic rivalry in the postseason for the second-straight season, the Navy baseball team (25-23, 14-11 PL) is set to host Army (23-22, 14-11 PL) in in the semifinal round of the 2025 Patriot League Tournament this weekend at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
 
The best-of-three series will open on Saturday at 1 p.m., while the second game is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday. Game three of the series, if necessary, would follow 40 minutes after the conclusion of game two. Scott Wykoff will handle play-by-play duties on ESPN+ for all three games.
 
PL Semifinals Coming Back to Annapolis
Navy locked up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament with its April 27 win at 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 … Last year's semifinal series with Holy Cross saw the Crusaders take the Saturday opener before Navy pulled off the Sunday doubleheader sweep in Annapolis to advance to the league's championship series … 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.
 
Navy's History in the League Tournament
The Mids have won the Patriot League Tournament six times since joining the league in 1993, claiming the league's tournament title in 1994, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2011 and 2016 (No tournament was held in 1995, with Navy earning the title via a first-place finish in the regular season) … Navy clinched a spot in the Patriot League Tournament for the 25th time in program history and the 13th time in the last 14 completed seasons with its second-place finish this season … The Mids are 35-43 all-time in the league tournament and are 26-24 at home during the Patriot League postseason.
 
DePerno Named Patriot League Rookie of the Year
Freshman catcher Ty DePerno was named the 2025 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, as the league office announced its major award winners on Wednesday … Joining Noah Song (2016) and Taylor Cato (2011) on the list of Mids to claim Rookie of the Year, DePerno has been a breakout star leading the team with a .306 average while hitting primarily in the clean-up spot … Sharing the team lead with 27 walks for a .431 on-base percentage (10th in the PL) and ranking second with four home runs, 28 RBI and 27 walks, DePerno has also amassed 44 hits, 29 runs scored and four steals to his ledger over 47 games.
 
Five Mids Earn All-League Honors
Garnering five all-league selections on Wednesday, the Mids saw senior closer Landon Kruer selected to the All-Patriot League First Team while rookie catcher Ty DePerno and a trio of sophomores in starting pitcher Brady Bendik, third baseman Evan Brown and outfielder Andrew Manning were all named to the All-Patriot League Second Team … This marked Kruer's second time earning all-league honors after a second-team nod in 2023, while Bendik, Brown, DePerno and Manning each received all-league status for the first time in their careers … The Mids have now had multiple all-league selections in each of the last 19 seasons finished.
 
Kruer Named to League's All-Academic Team
Navy senior closer Landon Kruer was one of 13 student-athletes named to the 2025 Academic All-Patriot League Team on Thursday …  This marks the right-hander's first time garnering academic all-league honors, while the Midshipmen have now had at least one academic all-league selection in each of the last 10 completed seasons … The Navy and Patriot League record-holder and the active NCAA leader with 34 career saves, Kruer has notched a league-leading nine saves this season to go with a 2.02 ERA in 18 appearances while racking up 31 strikeouts to just 10 walks in 26.2 innings … In the classroom, the senior has posted a 3.32 GPA as a naval architecture & marine engineering major, receiving Patriot League Academic Honor Roll distinction last season.
 
Postseason Notables
Brock Murtha has hit .333 (9-for-27) in seven career postseason games with the Mids, racking up four doubles and five runs scored … Landon Kruer has racked up eight strikeouts to two walks in 3.2 innings over four career postseason appearances … Jackson Beattie has a 0.00 ERA across two career postseason outings, striking out three in 2.2 innings … Jack Killelea posted a .400 average and .550 on-base clip in five postseason games last year, scoring four runs and walking four times … Brady Bendik compiled a 2.25 postseason ERA last May, pitching 12 innings over two appearances while holding opponents to a .146 batting average.
 
Record Book Watching
Brock Murtha's .420 career on-base percentage ranks 12th in program history … Murtha's 38 career hit-by-pitches are the second most in program history, trailing just Thomas Hamilton's 51 plunkings from 2005-08 … Murtha's 46 career steals rank sixth in program history, needing eight more to catch fifth-place Craig Candeto (2001-04) … Landon Kruer's 72 career appearances rank fourth in program history, two outings behind third-place Jett Meenach's 74 appearances from 2014 to 2017 … Murtha's 18 hit-by-pitches this year are the second most in program single-season history, with Murtha needing two more to match Thomas Hamilton's program record of 20 during the 2008 campaign … Kruer's nine saves this year are one away from matching the program single-season record of 10 saves, held by Ryan Hefner in 2006 and Trey Braithwaite in 2019.
 
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 on April 23 … 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 34 career saves in total … Currently leading the Patriot League with nine saves this season, Kruer has previously led the league in saves each of the previous three campaigns … Kruer's now-34 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 20 games, hitting .320 in that span with a .467 slugging percentage … Racking up 13 runs scored and 12 RBI in that stretch, the sophomore has tallied five doubles and two home runs while also adding on six walks and two steals … Manning has eight multi-hit games in that span, including three-hit contests on April 13 and May 3 … On the season, Manning is hitting .267 with a team-leading six homers and 33 runs scored.
 
Friendly Career Confines
Through three seasons at Navy, Brock Murtha is batting .331 at home with a .452 on-base percentage and .523 slugging clip, with 32 of his 88 hits going for extra bases and the infielder stealing 36 bags … In 54 career home games, Victor Izquierdo has 46 RBI and 53 hits, tallying a .282 home average … Andrew Manning has scored 49 times in 53 career home games, also collecting 61 hits and 37 walks to register a .347 average and .478 on-base clip … Landon Kruer has maintained a 2.29 career ERA in 35 home appearances, getting 48 strikeouts in 51 innings while notching 20 saves … In seven home appearances this year, Matt Archibald has posted a 1.99 ERA across 22.2 innings, allowing 10 hits to 39 strikeouts … Mason Ceccarelli is batting .279 and reaching base at a .530 clip at home this season, scoring nine times and driving in seven RBI in 18 appearances while drawing 20 walks to seven strikeouts … Navy has a .287 batting average at home under head coach Chuck Ristano, scoring 350 runs in 54 home games (6.48 runs per game) and stealing 115 bases in that span (2.13 steals per game).
 
Weekend Warriors
Ty DePerno has batted .419 on Saturdays this spring, scoring 12 times and driving in 10 more runs in 14 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 and Evan Brown holds a .340 average in 14 Saturday contests this spring … Brady Bendik has notched a 2.79 ERA in five Saturday starts this year, striking out 30 to seven walks in 29 innings … Andrew Manning holds a .261 average in 15 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
Evan Brown holds a .342 batting average in his last 10 games, posting three doubles along with five runs scored and five RBI … Victor Izquierdo is batting .333 in Navy's last 10 contests, doubling four times while accounting for four runs scored and four RBI … Owen Peterson has hit .286 while starting in all of Navy's last 10 games … Tyler Bouchard is hitting .714 against left-handers this season, while Jack Killelea has batted .356 against right-handers this year … Ty DePerno is hitting .397 with runners on base this season while Henry Mitchell has batted .667 with the bases loaded this spring … Peterson is reaching base at a .611 clip when leading off an inning.
 
Navy in the NCAA Stat Rankings
The Mids' 4.83 team ERA ranks 62nd in the country while their 8.92 hits allowed per nine innings rank 72nd … Navy's 74 total stolen bases and 1.54 steals per game rank 82nd and 91st in Division I, respectively … The 13 triples from Navy's lineup sit 54th nationally … Brock Murtha's 18 hit-by-pitches are 43rd nationally while his 22 steals rank 69th among Division I leaders … Brady Bendik ranks 75th nationally with his 7.08 hits allowed per nine innings among qualified pitchers, while his 1.16 WHIP stands 96th in Division I and his 3.34 ERA places 96th nationally as well … Landon Kruer's nine saves sit 12th in the nation, while Tyler Grenn's 2.36 walks allowed per nine innings ranks 123rd in the country.
 
League Leaders
Navy's pitchers have notched a Patriot League-best 4.83 ERA and have allowed a league-low 23 homers … Andrew Manning's six homers are tied for second in the conference … Brock Murtha is second in the league with 18 hit-by-pitches and Henry Mitchell is seventh in the league with 13 hit-by-pitches … Murtha's 22 steals rank fourth in the PL as well … Tyler Grenn is third in the Patriot League with 68.2 innings pitched, while his 19 strikeouts looking also stand third … Brady Bendik is second in the league with a .213 opposing batting average and third at a 3.34 ERA, fifth with 67.1 innings and seventh with 56 strikeouts … Landon Kruer's nine saves lead the league.
 
Navy Notables vs. Army
In four career appearances against Army (three starts), Brady Bendik has posted a 2.61 ERA over 20.2 innings, registering 16 strikeouts to four walks … Bendik has a 1.50 ERA in two starts this year against the Black Knights, going 2-0 with 10 strikeouts in 12 frames … Jack Killelea holds a .314 career average against Army, racking up four runs and nine RBI in 12 games … Evan Brown is batting .412 this year against Army, scoring four runs in five games … Ty DePerno has hit .389 against Army in five games, tallying four runs and five RBI.
 
Scouting Army
The Black Knights have won their last three games to move to 23-22 overall, posting an 11-1 win over LIU last Wednesday before sweeping a two-game weekend series with Rider … Army has gone 10-16 in road games this season, dropping three of their last four road contests … Pacing the team and sitting fourth in the league with a .331 average, Thomas Schreck has tallied 33 runs scored and 31 RBI while doubling 12 times … William Parker (.315) and Jack Quinlan (.313) share the team lead with five homers, while Quinlan's .548 slugging paces the league and Parker's 14 doubles sit fourth in the PL … Sharing the league lead with five triples, Chris Barr is batting .317 and scoring team-high 43 runs an stealing a team-best 30 bases … Leading the league with a 2.78 ERA, Andrew Berg has logged a team-best 68 innings and 58 strikeouts while posting a 5-2 record in 13 appearances … Robbie Penswick (3.72 ERA) and Kevin Reavey (4.31 ERA) share the team lead with five saves apiece, with Reavey leading the team with 18 appearances this season … The Black Knights' 97 doubles rank 55th nationally, while the team's 81 steals rank 64th in the country … Berg's 2.78 ERA sits 50th in the nation and Barr's 30 steals stand 20th in Division I … Barr, Berg, Parker and Schreck were all named to the All-Patriot League First Team while Quinlan and Addison Ainsworth garnered all-league second-team honors.
 
Series History
Navy holds a 135-134 lead in the all-time series with Army … 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 in mid-March and then sweeping a March 28 at West Point … Navy claimed the first game of the Star Series, 4-3, backed by Ty DePerno's two-run blast, but Army countered with a 5-4 victory in Saturday's nightcap despite a two-run homer from Andrew Manning, while the series finale on Sunday saw Manning hit another two-run bomb and DePerno rip a two-run single to power a 5-3 comeback win to hand Navy the Star … The March 28 sweep saw Brady Bendik and Tyler Grenn pitch back-to-back complete games and Evan Brown post a pair of two-hit games, leading Navy to 3-0 and 5-1 victories.
 
Army-Navy in the Postseason
Navy is 5-12 against the Black Knights in Patriot League Tournament history … The Mids and Black Knights have met in the league semifinals just twice, as Navy dropped a 2007 single-game semifinal to Army in Easton, Pa., while the 2013 semifinal series between the teams saw Army sweep the Mids in Annapolis … In the old league tournament format, Navy beat Army in Annapolis during the 1994 league finals but dropped the 2000 league finals to the Black Knights at Max Bishop Stadium … Under the current three-game format, Navy defeated Army in three games in the 2011 championship series in Annapolis, but then lost the 2018 and 2019 championship series at home to the Black Knights and dropped the 2024 finals at West Point … The Mids are 5-9 when playing Army in postseason play at Max Bishop Stadium.