SALISBURY, Md.  -- In the first of five Capital Athletic Conference games over the next four days, the 16th-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team will travel to No. 11 Salisbury on Wednesday afternoon for a 3:30 pm first pitch. The Captains (22-9, 7-6) will travel to Maryland looking to exact revenge against the Sea Gulls (19-8, 11-4), who defeated Christopher Newport, 14-7, in an earlier matchup this season. 

The game is the second of a seven-game week for the Captains, and will kick off a stretch of five straight CAC matchups for CNU. Following Wednesday's action, Christopher Newport will travel to Penn State Harrisburg to make up a doubleheader against the Lions after getting rained out last weekend. Finally, CNU will return home to host Wesley College in the regular season conference finale on Saturday at Noon.

All five games will include heavy playoff implications, with seeding for the top six teams in the CAC standings still long away from being decided. The Captains are currently in fifth place, just one game up on Penn State Harrisburg. Salisbury is tied for the league lead with Frostburg State heading into Wednesday's action. 

Christopher Newport's offense has been led of late by senior Connor Henderson, who is on a historically torrid run for the Captains. Henderson has blasted two home runs in each of the last three games, marking the first time in program history a player has registered three straight multi-homer games. The six dingers are also a record for any three-game stretch in CNU history, dating back to 1982. 

The scorching bat for Henderson has vaulted him to the team lead in RBI, tied with Tommy Vitaletti with 36, while ranking second in HR (8), extra-base hits (17) and runs scored (33). Vitaletti continues to pace the Captains' offense as he has all season, with a .391 batting average paired with team-highs in RBI (36), runs scored (40) and stolen bases (17). 

On the mound, junior left-handed pitcher Michael Thomas has been about as hot as Henderson, being named to the D3baseball.com National Team of the Week twice in the last three weeks. Thomas (3-0) leads the team with a 2.17 ERA  and a .210 batting average against, while striking out 31 in 29.0 innings of work. Out of the pen, sophomore Craig Johnson has been sensational, posting a 0.90 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 20.0 innings of relief. In seven relief appearances, Johnson has allowed just two runs. 

Salisbury comes into Wednesday's matchup with the Captains with a 9-2 record over the last 11 games, including three straight wins. While the Sea Gulls have struggled as a team on the mound, the perennial power has excelled at the dish, ranking as one of the nation's elite programs offensively in 2016. Salisbury leads the country in scoring (10.4 runs per game), and ranks in the top ten in average, on-base percentage, slugging and home runs. 

Leading the attack are three powerful bats in Tom LaBriola, Pete Grasso and Jake Dmiterchik, all with 30+ RBI, runs scored a +.400 batting averages. LaBriola's team-best .468 average leads the CAC as the senior left-handed swinger has 51 hits already this season. Grasso leads the team in home runs, with seven, and Dmiterchik drove in six runs against the Captains in the first game this season. 

The pitching staff has been led by Ian Scheidemann with a 3.22 ERA in five starts this season, while Grasso has served as the team's closer registering three saves with 29 strikeouts in 26.0 innings this season. The Sea Gulls have a 6.78 ERA as a team, and have allowed double figure scoring in ten games this season. 

Live video will be available of the key conference showdown, with the link available on the baseball schedule at CNUsports.com.