NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team returns home this weekend after a seven-game road swing that saw the team improve to 15-4 on the season. The Captains will open Capital Athletic Conference action on Friday against Salisbury University at 3:00 pm before hosting St. Mary's College of Maryland on Saturday at Noon for a doubleheader.
The Captains are off to a strong start this season in non-conference action and have climbed to the top ten nationally according to the ABCA. CNU is ranked 10th in the Top 25 according to the coaches' assocation, and 13th in the nation according to the D3baseball.com national rankings.
Live stats and live video will be available for all three contests over the weekend, with links found at CNUsports.com/live.
CNU has featured an impressive offense that is averaging nearly nine runs per game this season.
Jordan Mason and
Conner Clark, hitting at the top of the dangerous lineup, lead the team with 22 and 25 runs scored, respectively, as both players are hitting .338 on the season.
Nicholas Baham, with 25, and
Seth Woodard, with 27, are the leaders in RBI, while seven players have at least 10 on the year.
On the mound, senior
Logan Harrelson (2-0, 2.73 ERA) leads a staff that owns a 3.39 team ERA. The Captains have a deep bullpen led by sophomore
Brian Owens (28 K in 17.1 IP) and senior
Joe Burris (4-4 SV, 2.63 ERA). Seven different Captains have at least one win this season, led by
Thomas Packert (3-0, 3.70 ERA) and
Gray Goodrich (3-1, 4.35 ERA) with three wins apiece.
On Friday, CNU will take on a Salisbury squad that has fallen out of the Top 25 but is still receiving votes with a 9-4 overall record. In the first series of the year, Salisbury dropped a pair against No. 1 Cortland State, but only lost by one in the first game and took the Red Dragons to 14 innings in the second. The talented Sea Gulls are riding a three-game winning streak, including a 3-1 win over 19th-ranked Catholic University. Jack Barry is hitting .455 and Colby Dean .412 to lead the offense while Austin Heenan (2-1, 2.08 ERA) leads the pitching staff. The Sea Gulls have a 2.90 ERA as a team, with Connor Reeves (4-1, 1.41 ERA) pitching both as a starter and reliever to help anchor the staff.
St. Mary's will also open their CAC season against the Captains after seeing a mid-week matchup at Wesley get postponed due to weather. The Seahawks are 6-3 to start the year with wins in four of their last five games. SMC took two of three against D'Youville last weekend in their last outing. Holden Marshall has started the season red-hot at the plate, hitting .577 with 15 hits in 26 at-bats to lead the squad. Dakota Merritt is not far behind ,hitting .545 through the first nine games as the two players have combined for 20 RBI and 14 runs scored. In four starts this year, Jackson Edelman leads the pitching staff with a 3-1 record and 2.45 ERA.
Following the weekend conference games, CNU will return to non-conference play on Monday, traveling to Hampden-Sydney College for a 4:00 pm first pitch. That game will start another long road swing, with five straight road games.
