NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- With a 2:00 pm first pitch against Virginia Wesleyan University on Wednesday afternoon, the CNU baseball team will kick off a six-game homestand over the next week. After opening the season with five of the first six games away from Captains Park, CNU will now host six straight.
The Captains will take on the cross-water rivals at 2:00 pm, with live stats and a live video webcast at CNUsports.com/live. Admission to Captains Park is free.
CNU is off to a 4-2 start this season while the Marlins were 2-1 heading into a Tuesday afternoon matchup with Mary Washington. Virginia Wesleyan won two of three games against Ferrum to open the season last weekend.
So far this season, the Captains have been led by a strong pitching staff boasting a 2.72 ERA after the first six games. Sophomore
Thomas Packert and senior
Logan Harrelson have started five of the six games and are off to impressive starts. Packert earned a spot on the D3baseball.com National Team of the Week with a 1-0 record and 0.00 ERA through his first 12.2 innings, while Harrelson has 15 strikeouts in 11.0 innings of work.
Out of the bullpen, junior
Ryan Powell (2-1, 2.57 ERA) has been the top long man so far, while sophomore
Brian Owens (0.00 ERA in 3 appearances) has been the best in short relief. Owens was also named to the D3baseball.com National Team of the Week after striking out eight straight batters last week.
Offensively, junior catcher
Ryan Grubbs is hitting .429 in four games played after starting the year 6-for-14. Junior outfielder
Jordan Mason is hitting .320 with 4 RBI and 4 runs scored, while
Seth Woodard leads the team in RBI with seven. Senior
Brandon Ginch has a pair of home runs and is tied for the team lead in runs scored with five.
Virginia Wesleyan has 11 extra-base hits in the Marlins' first three games, led by four doubles from Deon Hammond. Hammond is hitting .357 with a pair of RBI and runs scored, while sophomore Zack Clark is hitting a team-best .500 (6-12 with 1 BB). With the season so young, only three pitchers have seen more than one games worth of action. Sophomore Jay Crusemire started against Ferrum and struck out 10 in seven innings of work in a no decision. Jacob Pilarski and Glen Pizzanello each earned wins in relief.
Following Wednesday's action, the Captains will return the diamond on Friday, February 23 against Susquehanna University. First pitch against the River Hawks will be at 2:00 pm as Susquehanna opens their season against the Captains.
