HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Christopher Newport University will travel to Penn State Harrisburg this weekend to take on the Lions in baseball action. The Capital Athletic Conference doubleheader is scheduled for Saturday, March 22, with first pitch slated for 1:00 pm. The Captains (9-9, 3-2) will be taking on a Penn State Harrisburg team hosting their first ever CAC doubleheader, and just their second and third home games of the season. 

The Lions are off to a 3-12 start, with an 0-3 mark in league play. Due to weather cancellations and postponements, the Lions have only played one game at home this season, with four games seeing schedule or location changes. In their first home game of the year, they suffered a one-run setback to Wesley College, 4-3. 

CNU is currently tied for fourth in the league standings after a doubleheader split with Wesley last weekend. The Captains are led by senior Billy Steel, who has reached base in 25 straight games dating back to last season. He ranks second nationally in home runs, with six, and leads the potent CNU offense that leads the nation in homers, with 21 blasts. He also ranks fifth nationally in total bases, with 58, and is hitting .443 with 31 hits, driving in a team-high 22 runs. 

The offense also features junior Tommy Vitaletti, hitting .423 with nine extra-base hits, and senior Justin Weaver, hitting .338 with 11 extra-base knocks. As a team, the Captains are hitting .300 and slugging .488, while averaging nearly seven runs per game. 

On the mound, the senior class has been powering the Captains all season long. Bryan Bierlein (2-2, 1.47 ERA), Nick Santalucia (3-0, 1.12 ERA) and Jacob Vaughan (2-0, 3.41 ERA) have combined for 14 of the 18 starts this season, striking out 68 batters in 95 innings pitched. 

Penn State Harrisburg has struggled to get going as a team, but senior Colton Houseal has blasted three home runs and is hitting .321 to lead the way for the Lions. Sophomore Eric Hoover has a team-best .367 average, while rookie Tom Denniston has scored a team-high 11 times.

The two-game set will be just the second time the two teams have ever faced off, both playing in their first year in the CAC. The Captains won the previous matchup, 8-7, in 2012.