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ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The 132nd season of Navy Baseball gets started this weekend when the Midshipmen travel south to take on Queens University in a three-game series at Stick Williams Dream Fields in Charlotte, N.C.
 
Originally slated to be a three-day series, Navy opens its second campaign under head coach Chuck Ristano with a single game on Friday, February 13 at 4 p.m., while the Midshipmen and Royals are now set to close the series with a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 11 a.m.
 
Navy on Opening Day
The Mids hold an all-time season-opening record of 74-55-2 … Navy has dropped its last three season openers after pulling out season-opening victories in 2021 and 2022 … Eight members of the Mids’ 2025 Opening Day batting lineup return in seniors Victor Izquierdo, Mac McCommons and Henry Mitchell, juniors Tyler Bouchard, Evan Brown and Andrew Manning and sophomores Mason Ceccarelli and Owen Peterson … The Mids also return their 2025 opening-day starter in junior Brady Bendik, as well as fellow opening-weekend rotation mates in senior Tyler Grenn and junior Matt Archibald … Manning tallied two hits in last year’s season opener, while Bendik held Richmond hitless over 3.2 innings … Izquierdo has been in three opening-day lineups for Navy over his career, while McCommons has started two opening days behind the plate for the Mids.
 
Series History
The season-opening series between Navy and Queens will mark the first meetings in the respective programs’ histories … The Mids are 0-9 all-time against current Atlantic Sun members … Navy’s last time facing a current ASUN school was a 9-3 loss at North Florida in 2003.
 
Scouting Queens
The Royals were picked to finish sixth in the Graphite Division of the 2026 ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll and ninth in the D1Baseball ASUN Preview … Queens is coming off a 9-44 overall record and a 7-23 mark in ASUN play last season, but overturned the roster with 23 newcomers to join 13 returning players … Offensively, Anibal Rivera started all 53 games last season while serving as the primary leadoff option, as he recorded a .372 on-base percentage with seven home runs and 20 RBI … On the mound, Queens returns a pair of arms in Joey Ruller and Adrian Quezada, as Ruller made 16 appearances last season over 52.1 innings of work, while Quezada, a 2024 NJCAA Third Team All-American, turned in a 5.40 ERA across 56.2 innings of work in his first season in Charlotte last year.
 
Retaining the Old Goats
Navy ranks among the top teams in Division I for returning production, according to D1Baseball’s Bradley Smart … Losing just one starter and its closer from last year, Navy brings back 27 players from 2025 including eight lineup mainstays and all three weekend starters on the mound … Using a calculation of the percentage of production back on both sides of the ball, Smart’s model put the Mids at No. 34 among all Division I programs … Navy brings back 70% of its roster from last year to rank 23rd nationally, while the Mids return 86% of their at-bats from last season (second nationally) and 81% of their innings pitched from 2025 (eighth nationally) … The overall rank as well as the at-bat and innings-pitched percentages all rank first among Patriot League schools.
 
A Three-Headed Rotation
The Mids bring back their three most-used weekend starters from 2025 on the mound, as 2025 All-Patriot League Second Teamer Brady Bendik, 2024 First-Team All-League pick Tyler Grenn and highly-touted Matt Archibald will look to continue their successes from previous seasons … A weekend starter in each of his first two years, Bendik earned all-league second team honors in 2025 after leading the team with 73 innings pitched, throwing three complete games with two shutouts … After a breakout sophomore year in 2024 that put him among the league’s best starters, Grenn started 13 games on the mound last year, tossing a pair of complete games while posting a 4.81 ERA in 73 innings … Archibald bounced back in 2025 after missing his 2024 rookie season due to injury, leading Navy and finishing fifth in the Patriot League with 66 strikeouts while notching a 3.64 ERA in 47 innings, also holding opponents to a .133 batting average.
 
Looking for a TDP Encore
Navy’s Ty DePerno put on a show his freshman season, earning 2025 Patriot League Rookie of the Year while also nabbing Second-Team All-League selection … The catcher played in 50 games with 47 starts, including starting 35 games behind the plate, while leading Navy with a .307 batting average and a .439 on-base (10th in the Patriot League) … DePerno also paced the team with 32 RBI and 31 walks while finishing second in homers (5) and runs scored (33) … He also tortured Patriot League opponents, batting .329 in conference play to rank ninth in the PL while scoring 14 times and driving in 14 more runs across 25 league games.
 
Weekend Warriors
Evan Brown was a force in Friday games last season, hitting .375 with five doubles in nine Friday games, while Andrew Manning batted .344 on Fridays with five RBI and five runs scored in those nine games … Ty DePerno batted .383 on Saturdays last spring, scoring 13 times and driving in 12 more runs in 15 Saturday games … Noah Ditas hit .545 in seven Saturday appearances as a rookie, while Tyler Bouchard had a .474 average in 10 Saturday starts with eight steals and Evan Brown held a .352 average in 15 Saturday contests last spring … Andrew Manning posted a .291 average in 17 Sunday games last season with a pair of homers, while Bouchard batted .286 in eight Sunday games.
 
Road Dogs
Victor Izquierdo led the way with a .321 batting average on the road last season, racking up 10 RBI and nine runs scored with five doubles in 16 away games … Ty DePerno also hit .310 on the road during his rookie season, reaching base at a .464 clip … After hitting at a .300 clip in true road games as a rookie in 2024, Evan Brown continued his hot bat away from home with a.298 average in 2025 while adding 11 RBI and six extra-base hits … Andrew Manning also did damage on the road in 2025, hitting three doubles and four homers over 16 road starts to slug .444 … Brady Bendik was dominant over four road starts last year, posting a 2.40 ERA over 22.1 innings, tossing two complete games and striking out 13 batters.
 
Trio Named Preseason All-League, Mids Picked Third
Three Mids were named to the 2026 Preseason All-Patriot League Team last month, with junior pitcher Brady Bendik, junior infielder Evan Brown and sophomore catcher Ty DePerno nabbing preseason honors from the league office … The Navy trio were among the 14 players to earn a spot on the preseason all-league team, while the Mids were picked to finish third in the league’s preseason coaches poll … Holy Cross was picked to win the league, receiving four first-place votes and 24 total points in the preseason poll, while Army was slated to finish second with 22 points (two first-place votes) and Navy came in third at 16 points … Lehigh tallied 14 points to land fourth, while Bucknell and Lafayette rounded out the poll tied for fifth with seven points each.
 
In the D1Baseball Projections
With the Mids picked to finish first in D1Baseball’s Patriot League season preview, the publication also projected Navy freshman infielder Patrick Walsh to win the league’s Rookie of the Year award … D1Baseball.com also slotted sophomore Ty DePerno at No. 50 in the preseason Top-50 catcher rankings, the lone Patriot League catcher to make the list … Juniors Brady Bendik (No. 2) and Andrew Manning (No. 6) also ranked among the publication’s top 2026 draft prospects in the Patriot League, while DePerno (No. 2) and fellow sophomore Spencer Stephens (No. 6) appeared on the league’s top 2027 draft prospects … Walsh (No. 1) and righty Jackson Clark (No. 5) were among the names to watch on the Patriot League’s Impact Freshman list by D1Baseball.
 
Izquierdo Named Team Captain
Senior infielder Victor Izquierdo has been named as the team captain for the 2026 Navy baseball season, head coach Chuck Ristano announced … A constant presence in the Midshipmen’s lineup the past two seasons, Izquierdo is coming off a junior campaign that saw the first baseman hit .260 with 11 doubles and two home runs while tallying 23 runs scored and a team-high 32 RBI … Starting each of the Mids’ 102 games the past two years, Izquierdo holds a .267 career batting average while racking up 26 doubles, three homers, 47 runs scored and 74 RBI.
 
New Staff Additions
Head coach Chuck Ristano had two additions to his staff this offseason, bringing on Chris Bosco as an assistant coach and Andrew Moritz as the director of operations … Bosco joins the Midshipmen after spending five of the last six seasons on the Northeastern coaching staff, helping guide the Huskies to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths while mentoring Northeastern hitters to seven All-America selections and three CAA Player of the Year awards … A 2018 sixth-round pick of the Atlanta Braves, Moritz arrives in Annapolis after spending the 2025 season as an assistant coach at Division II Missouri Western, helping produce three All-MIAA selections during his lone year with the Griffons.
 
Up Next
Navy will return to Annapolis for its home opener on Tuesday, Feb. 17 against Delaware State. First pitch at Terwilliger Brothers Field at Max Bishop Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m.