ANNAPOLIS, Md. The Navy baseball team begins its Patriot League roster this weekend, hosting old foe Bucknell for four games March 17-19 at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium.
Opening the series at 2 p.m. Friday, the Midshipmen and Bison will then play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. before closing out the weekend with a first pitch at 1 p.m. Sunday. Saturday’s doubleheader and Sunday’s series finale will air on ESPN+, with Pete Medhurst on the call Saturday and Joe Miller handling on-air duties Sunday.
Series history
In a historic series that began in 1904, Navy leads Bucknell 92-78-1… The Mids are 3-7 against the Bison in their last 10 games after Navy won 10 straight over Bucknell since on March 17. 2018 to March 27, 2021… The last 15 games of the series to be held in Annapolis have seen the Mids go 10-5 against the Bison… Head coach Paul Kostacopoulos has gone .500 against Bucknell during his Navy tenure, posting a 35 -35 mark since arriving in Annapolis in 2006… Bucknell won four of Navy’s five games last season, picking up three wins from a four-game set in Lewisburg and claiming one 11-1 win over Navy on April 20 in Annapolis… Bucknell topped Navy in the 2021 season five-game series by a 43-10 margin.
Navy notables against the bison
Junior zane raba He is 10-for-28 (.357) in 10 career games against Bucknell, adding five runs scored and three extra-base hits… Senior alex smith has posted a .278 batting average in 11 games against the Bison, scoring six runs and driving in another six… Senior reece early he has thrown the most innings against Bucknell of any current Navy pitcher, posting a 4.91 ERA against the Bison in 11 innings of work, striking out eight in three starts.
last time out
After sweeping a three-game home series over Princeton, the Mids headed on the road to Delaware State for a Wednesday matinee, where the Hornets defeated Navy, 9-4, in a matchup that featured three home runs between the squads. …smith and junior hudson lehnertz accounted for two of Navy’s three hits on the afternoon, while Trey Paige had three hits for DSU and Nick Gnardellis hit a solo home run for the host Hornets… evan hamill received the defeat, while junior zach powers he pitched a season-high two innings for the Mids.
latest series
The Mids used strong starting pitching all weekend to sweep a three-game set of Princeton at Annapolis, earning Navy’s first three-game series sweep since a perfect weekend against UMass during the 2020 season… A complete seven-inning game from a senior mitchell In Saturday’s opener, the captain allowed just one run on three hits and struck out five batters, while the freshman henry mitchell drove in a pair and scored Navy’s other run in a 3-1 victory… Early pitched four innings in his first start of the season, giving up one run and striking out four, and Lehnertz matched a career-high with three hits while the Mids were rebuilding together a 5-3 win in the cup on Saturday… Led by senior by Thomas Russell six strikeouts in five scoreless innings and a junior two-hit, three-RBI contest Logan KellerNavy held on despite a late rally by the Tigers to post a 7-4 win Sunday and complete the sweep, as a junior. zach’s room he struck out both batters he faced for his first college save.
Hammering Henry honored by Patriot League
henry mitchell was named Patriot League Rookie of the Week Tuesday, the first midshipman to win a weekly league award this season… Mitchell is the first Navy player to be named Patriot League Rookie of the Week since landon cruer won the weekly award on April 19, 2022… The freshman has found a spot in the lineup for the past two weeks after being cleared to play following an arm injury that sidelined him. game during the preseason… In his first seven collegiate games, he’s hitting .353 with six hits, scoring a double and a triple while tallying four runs scored and driving in three runs… He’s also 16-for-16 in fielding opportunities , helping turn four double plays… The rookie had a pair of multi-hit games in the series sweep at Princeton, either driving in or scoring all three of Navy’s runs in the series opener before racking up two singles at the end of the weekend.
Big Nate stays stingy with walks
With another quality start on Saturday, mitchell he now leads the Midfielders with a 2.14 ERA and 21 innings pitched, while his 18 strikeouts are tied with only four walks this season… His 4.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio leads the Patriot League, al same as his 1.71 walks per nine innings… Mitchell’s 0.95 WHIP ranks third in the league and his 2.14 ERA ranks second in the PL… He also pitched over five innings and struck out five or more batters in his last three starts, including a career-high seven strikeouts against UMass on March 4… The right-hander was the national leader last season in both strikeout-to-walk ratio as in the walks allowed per nine innings.
smitty says no
alex smith leads the Patriot League with six running backs caught stealing, with four of those ejected running backs coming in the same game… Smith slapped a career-high four Air Force running backs on February 26. The four runners caught stealing is the most by a Navy receiver since Jeff Bland picked off four Towson running backs in an 8-8 tie on March 9, 2011… Smith’s four runners caught stealing in the In the Air Force series finale they matched their season totals from 2021 and 2022, eliminating four running backs in each of the past two seasons.
Bucknell Scouting
The Bison are 5-9 on the season, coming off a three-game sweep of Rhode Island… Bucknell’s sweep of the Rams featured back-to-back victories Sunday, as the Bison won both ends of the doubleheader by a Going 3-2 in extra innings… Sean Keys paces the team with a .292 average, four doubles and 12 RBIs while All-Patriot League Preseason selection Grant Voytovich is second at Bucknell with a .283 average in addition to a team-best mark. three home runs… Kyle Lyons enters the weekend riding a six-game hitting streak and has raised his season average to .277, while Jacob Terwilliger has racked up a 10-game on-base streak to post an on-base clip .380…Tyler O’Neill has been Bucknell’s primary starter, posting a 4.98 ERA while posting a team-high 21.2 innings and 17 strikeouts…Preseason All-League selection Will Greer has a 6.88 in four starts.
Until next time
Navy hosts Lehigh for a doubleheader on March 25 before welcoming Lafayette for two games on March 26. Both twin cards are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.
