Live Stats  |  Live Audio

WINCHESTER, Va. -- The 2012 USA South Athletic Conference Regular Season Baseball Championship will be decided this weekend, in a head-to-head battle between the top two teams in the league. Third-ranked Christopher Newport University (24-4, 8-2) leads the league and needs to just win one of the two games against 12th-ranked Shenandoah University (21-7, 7-3) for the outright conference title. Both games will be available through live stats and a live audio webcast at suhornets.com

The Captains, riding a season-best eight game winning streak, comes into Friday night's series opener after a 15-2 win at Randolph-Macon on Thursday. CNU's probable starters are junior Greg Goldsmith (4-1, 1.50 ERA) and sophomore Jacob Vaughan (4-0, 2.48 ERA), both ranking in the league's top six in ERA among pitchers with at least five starts. Goldsmith ranks second behind only Greensboro's Michael Cobb (3-0, 0.72 ERA).

The staff as a whole ranks among the nation's elite, 12th in the country in team ERA as of April 1 with a 2.57 mark. This week, the average has sunk to 2.50, as the arms continue to dominate. In the bullpen, a trifecta of juniors have carried the bulk of the load, led by closer Ryan Fleischmann. Fleischmann became the Captains' all-time leader in saves this year and has only been scored upon three times this year, sporting a 2-1 record and 1.99 ERA in 16 appearances this year. Set-up men Matt Verdillo (2-0, 2.31 ERA, 1 save) and Richard Lindsay (3-0, 2.16 ERA) have made 17 and 15 appearances, respectively.

The Captains' offense is predicated behind getting on base, doing so at a .405 clip as a team so far this season. CNU ranks second in the nation in hit-by-pitch and 22nd in the nation in base-on-balls. CNU is also among the nation's leaders in extra-base hits, coming in with 96 XBH to date.

Shenandoah, ranked as high as #12 in the nation, will need to sweep the conference series to earn its second straight regular season title. The Hornets are among the region's finest teams in recent history, and have been nationally ranked all season. The USA South rival features one of the top offenses in the nation, ranking third in total home runs and seventh in HR/game. Joey Donofrio leads the power attack, with seven doubles and seven home runs while hitting .336, while Jake Pendergraft leads the league with a .452 batting average, with 32 RBI.

Vince Claudio (4-0, 2.13 ERA) and Cory Nelson (3-3, 1.85 ERA) are the probable starters for Shenandoah, leading a pitching staff with a 2.50 ERA. Closer Matt Riegler leads the way out of the pen making a team-high 13 appearances with four saves and a 0.78 ERA.

First pitch is set for 6:00 pm on Friday and 1:00 pm Saturday. The seedings will be set for next week's USA South Athletic Conference Tournament in Burlington, N.C.