ANNAPOLIS, Md. – An 8-2 surge in its last 10 games and four-game winning streak sends the Navy baseball team (12-4) into the opening weekend of Patriot League play, as the Midshipmen start its 2026 league slate with a three-game series this Friday through Sunday against longtime foe Lehigh (3-10) at J. David Walker Field in Bethlehem, Pa.
 
Renewing a rivalry that dates back 130 years to 1895, the Mids and Mountain Hawks will begin the series with a 3:00 p.m. first pitch on Friday, while Saturday's contest is slated for a 1:00 p.m. start and Sunday's series finale is scheduled for 12 noon. Friday and Sunday will be broadcast on ESPN+, while Saturday is set to stream on Mountain Hawks All-Access.
 
Bendik and Grenn Named to National Pitcher of the Year Watch List
A pair of Navy pitchers picked up national recognition on Wednesday, as senior Tyler Grenn and junior Brady Bendik were named to the College Baseball Foundation's 2026 National Pitcher of the Year Watch List … A total of 142 of the nation's best hurlers representing 26 different conferences were listed on the Pitcher of the Year watch list, reflecting the top mound performers to this point of the 2026 season … Staples in the Navy rotation since 2024, Bendik and Grenn are the lone Patriot League pitchers to appear on the watch list … Bendik and Grenn mark the first Mids to be named to the National Pitcher of the Year's watch list since Noah Song in 2019, and become the first Navy teammates to be on the watch list together since Luke Gillingham and Jett Meenach in 2015.
 
Clark Named Patriot League Rookie of the Week
Becoming the most recent Navy freshman to have a big impact on a surging team, right-hander Jackson Clark was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Monday … Clark had a dominant week out of the bullpen for Navy, recording three scoreless appearances while aiding a pair of Navy wins … The freshman finished the week with just one hit allowed while tallying five strikeouts over his 3.2 innings, picking up the winning decision twice and holding opponents to a .091 batting average … He joins high school teammate Owen Phypers (Feb. 16) and Patrick Walsh (Feb. 23) as one of three Mids to claim the league's Rookie of the Week accolade this year so far.
 
Career Snapshots in the PL
In 15 career Patriot League starts, Brady Bendik has maintained a 3.39 ERA over 82.1 innings, striking out 65 and notching a 7-5 record while recording four complete games … Tyler Grenn has posted a 4.81 ERA across 15 career appearances in league play, totaling 88 innings and 39 strikeouts while making 14 starts with three complete games … Evan Brown has batted .305 in 37 career league games, scoring 19 runs and driving in 18 RBI while walking 13 times … Hitting .291 in 29 league contests his first two seasons, Jack Killelea tallied 15 runs scored and nine RBI while drawing 12 walks … Andrew Manning has a .314 average in 50 career league games, scoring 32 runs and posting 31 RBI with seven homers.
 
Hot League Debuts in 2025
Ty DePerno posted a .329 batting average in his first 25 league games last season, boasting 14 RBI and five extra-base hits … After missing his freshman year due to injury, Matt Archibald made an immediate impact in 2025 league play, posting a 2.45 ERA in five starts while spinning 28 strikeouts in 22 innings … John Carroll posted a 2.16 ERA over five relief outings in league play last season, punching out five in 8.1 innings.
 
Super Sophomore League Years
Brady Bendik had an incredible sophomore year in league play, posting a 2.08 ERA and 4-2 record in seven starts, logging 43.1 innings and three complete games while racking up 38 strikeouts to 10 walks … Evan Brown batted .310 in his second league campaign, while classmate Andrew Manning hit .291 with five homers in PL play … Tyler Bouchard also racked up a .478 average in nine league games last year while battling injury, swiping four bases.
 
A Week of Walk-Offs
Navy had an exciting 4-1 run last week, highlighted by three walk-off comeback victories and a series victory over Dartmouth … Down by four runs at the midpoint of the game, Navy clawed its way back for an 8-7 walk-off victory over Coppin State on Tuesday, as a three-run ninth inning by the Mids was capped off by Victor Izquierdo lifting a sacrifice fly to score Henry Mitchell … Dropping Friday's series opener with Dartmouth, Navy found itself trailing by seven runs with only three outs left in Saturday's opening game but rattled off an eight-run seventh inning to get an 8-7 win, capped by Ty DePerno's game-winning RBI single before carrying that same offense into the nightcap for an 11-3 victory and the doubleheader sweep … Notching its second walk-off win in as many days and its third walk-off victory of week, Navy rallied again Sunday to post the 4-3 win in 10 innings and clinch the series victory when Tyler Cripe slid home for the game-winning run … Saturday's walk-off win was the largest Navy comeback win since the Mids rallied from a six-run hole (down 7-1 after six innings) to post an 18-11 nine-inning win at UMES on April 12, 2023 … The Saturday comeback was also the first time Navy has rallied from down seven runs to win since a 12-10 win over UMES at home on Feb. 24, 2010.
 
Road Dogs Redux
The Mids have posted a .276 team batting average on the road to match a 4.39 ERA, compiling a 3-2 away record this season … Evan Brown holds a team-best .444 average along with three steals in three road games, improving his all-time road average to .311 … Among Mids to play all five away games, Victor Izquierdo paces the team with a .389 road average to go with eight runs scored and five RBI … A pair of freshmen have been big contributors on the road, with Tyler Cripe hitting .375 alongside a team-best nine RBI, while John Loudon has batted .364 with seven runs scored and seven RBI.
 
T.G.I.F. for the Mids
The Mids are 3-1 on Fridays this season so far, hitting .279 as a team while holding a 3 team ERA … John Loudon has batted .667 (8-for-12) in three Friday games, scoring five times and driving five more runs … Henry Mitchell is also hitting .444 on Fridays with four runs scored, while Victor Izquierdo has batted .333 with a pair of extra-base hits in those four games and Andrew Manning is batting .313 on Fridays … Spencer Stephens has a 1.80 ERA in two Friday relief appearances, striking out three in five innings.
 
2026 Weekend Warriors
This season has seen the Mids go 9-4 with a .254 average and 3.54 ERA over 13 weekend games … John Loudon paces the team with a .289 weekend average, driving in eight runs and scoring seven times … Victor Izquierdo is batting .350 on Saturdays, scoring seven times in six games … Patrick Walsh is hitting .455 on Sundays while Tyler Cripe has batted .429 on Sundays so far.
 
News & Notes
Navy has outscored opponents by a 26-1 margin in the second inning this season … Tyler Cripe is batting .304 over the Mids' last 10 games, homering twice and plating seven RBI … Ty DePerno has broken out with a .300 average over Navy's last 10 games, tallying three extra-base hits … Patrick Walsh is hitting .304 when in the starting lineup this year, knocking in 10 RBI with seven extra-base hits.
 
Navy Among NCAA Stat Leaders
Navy's pitching has posted a league-leading 3.61 ERA that sits 36th nationally, while the team's 1.39 WHIP also leads the Patriot League and ranks 67th in the nation … Navy is also ninth in the country and atop the league with 49 stolen bases as a team (10th nationally at 3.06 per game) … The Mids' 0.56 triples per game ranks third in the country … Patrick Walsh's four triples are tied for the Division I lead, while Henry Mitchell's nine hit-by-pitches rank 12th in the country … Owen Phypers is tied for the 22nd nationally with three victories, while his league-leading 1.06 ERA is 32nd nationally … Brady Bendik's 1.21 ERA ranks 51st in the country … Matt Archibald's 35 total strikeouts seventh in the country and his 15.00 strikeouts per nine innings rank 14th in Division I, with both marks leading the Patriot League.
 
Navy Notables vs. Lehigh
Matt Archibald held Lehigh to one unearned run over two starts last year, allowing just three hits and striking out nine in 10 innings … Brady Bendik has twirled a 2.70 ERA in two career starts against the Mountain Hawks, posting nine strikeouts to three walks in 10 innings … Victor Izquierdo is hitting .371 in 10 career games against Lehigh, posting six RBI and five runs scored while only striking out three times … Andrew Manning has a .353 lifetime average against Lehigh, scoring eight times and driving in four runs over 10 career starts.
 
Scouting Lehigh
The Mountain Hawks enter the weekend with a 3-10 mark and on a four-game slide … After being swept at Davidson last week, Lehigh came home but suffered a 12-3 loss to Saint Peter's on Wednesday … Trystan Crawford is pacing the team with a .302 batting average and eight RBI … Despite a .233 average, Aidan Quinn has belted a pair of homers and has knocked in seven RBI … Cole Leaman has posted a 5.40 ERA in four starts, striking out 16 in 11.2 innings … Lehigh finished last season at 24-26 overall with a 11-14 league record, falling to Holy Cross in the league semifinal series … Quinn and pitcher Cole Kochanowicz were both named to the 2026 Preseason All-Patriot League Team back in January.
 
Series History
In a series that dates back to 1895 (the oldest among Navy's league foes), the Mids have gone 105-57 all-time against Lehigh … Navy head coach Chuck Ristano has posted a 7-3 record over Lehigh in his first two seasons, sweeping the five-game season series in 2024 but going 2-3 against the Mountain Hawks last season … After splitting an April 6 doubleheader in Annapolis, the Mids dropped the first two games in Bethlehem April 25-27 but grabbed the series finale by a 2-1 score thanks to Matt Archibald holding Lehigh to one unearned run over eight innings.
 
Up Next
Navy will return home to host Maine on Wednesday, March 18 in a 3:00 p.m. contest.