NORFOLK, Va. -- The No. 4-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team is back in action on Wednesday afternoon as CNU travels to Virginia Wesleyan University (6-4) for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch.
The Captains are 9-2 overall this season after suffering back-to-back setbacks in their last two games. The all-time series slightly favors Virginia Wesleyan, 30-27, with CNU capturing a pair of wins last season. This season, CNU is 2-0 in road games while the Marlins have opened with a 5-1 start in home games.
Following a 1-2 record in last week's schedule, the Captains slipped to No. 4 in the nation according to the D3baseball.com Top 25, but are still garnering one first-place vote. Wooster holds onto the top spot while Rowan and Trinity (Texas) are picked ahead of CNU in this week's ranking.
The Captains are among the nation's top offenses, ranking 12th nationally in scoring (10.8 runs per game) while also ranking in the top-15 in walks, doubles, stolen bases, and runs scored. Led by a pair of players off to great starts setting the table at the top of the lineup, the Captains have scored in double figures seven times this season and are outscoring opponents, 119-41.
Those two players are senior
Jordan Mason and sophomore
Conner Clark, who have both moved into the top-10 all-time in career stolen bases at CNU. Mason has a team-high 10 extra-base hits and 16 RBI while Clark has gone 12-for-13 on the basepaths while driving in 13 runs and scoring 12 times. Further down the lineup, shortstop
Nick DiNapoli has been on a tear, raising his batting average nearly 200 points over a six-game hitting streak. He is currently hitting .372 with 14 runs scored, 6 RBI, and 5 stolen bases.
On the mound, junior right-handed reliever
Tyler Jumper has been terrific out of the pen for the Captains, striking out 14 batters in 13.2 innings of relief. He is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA while allowing just eight hits in seven appearances for CNU. Also out of the pen, juniors
Brian Owens and
Andrew Suppa have each made six appearances while senior
Austin Slough has pitched five times. The bullpen arms have combined to go 4-0 with a 1.43 ERA in 50.1 innings of work this season.
Virginia Wesleyan opened the season 0-3 but has since won six of the last seven games, including a 4-2 extra-inning win at nationally-ranked Salisbury last week. The Marlins swept Bridgewater in a pair of games at home this weekend to run their win streak to five heading into Wednesday's matchup.
The Marlins pitching staff has a 3.63 team ERA and is led in strikeouts by junior Jacob Pilarski with 21. Junior Andrew Lowe has a 3.14 ERA to lead the starting rotation while the bullpen has seen four different players pick up saves already this season. Offensively, senior catcher Jordan Sprouse is hitting .423 while senior Jordan McDonough has a team-best 13 hits for a .342 average. The Marlins are hitting .268 and have 15 stolen bases while opening the year with a 6-4 record.
Live stats will be available online for the action. CNU will then return home for the first conference series of the season as they host Frostburg State at Captains Park for three games this weekend.
