HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team is set to embark on a long road trip on Wednesday afternoon, starting with a road contest at Hampden-Sydney College at 4:00 pm. Ranked number two in the nation, the Captains (23-3) will kick off a seven-game road swing over the next two and a half weeks with the mid-week non-conference action against the Tigers.
Hampden-Sydney is one of only three teams to pick up a win against the Captains this season, earning a 9-5 win at Captains Park in early March. The Tigers are 13-12-1 overall heading into Wednesday's rematch at the Ty Cobb Ballpark - Wurdeman Stadium in Hampden-Sydney, Va.
Christopher Newport owns a 23-13-1 advantage in the all-time series dating back to 1989. This season, CNU has been one of the top teams in the nation and comes into the non-conference tilt ranked No. 2 in both the ABCA Coaches Poll and the D3baseball.com Top 25. CNU had a 13-game win streak snapped with a loss to 14th-ranked Salisbury on Sunday, but the Captains bounced back to win game two of the doubleheader and improve to 23-3 overall.
The Captains offense has been dangerous all season long, ranking first in the nation in on-base percentage and runs per game. On the other side of the ball, the Captains pitching staff ranks third nationally in hits allowed per game, giving up just 6.81 base knocks per contest.
Three CNU starters are hitting over .400 as seniors
Joseph Cutchins (.435),
Ryan Grubbs (.424), and sophomore
Eric O'Brien (.418) have helped lead the team to a .338 average as a group. On pace for record-shattering numbers, the Captains have smacked over 100 extra-base hits with eight games left on the regular season schedule including 68 doubles. Senior
Jordan Mason and junior
Trey Hicks lead the way with 10 apiece while
Seth Woodard has added nine.
The CNU pitching staff has been buouyed by a dominant bullpen which has combined for an 8-0 record and 2.22 ERA in relief.
Tyler Jumper has five wins out of the pen with a 0.72 ERA while
Brian Owens has appeared in 16 games with a 0.89 ERA. The midweek rotation has been anchored by
Kyle Darmstead (2-0), who has made four starts and boasts a 3.00 ERA with 13 K in 15.0 IP.
Hampden-Sydney is led by juniors Matthew Spagnolo and Chase Counts with 38 combined RBI. Spagnolo is hitting .412 with 11 extra-base hits. Counts has a team-best three home runs and 20 RBI while hitting .362. The veteran lineup also features senior Tyler Blevins, hitting .326, and juniors Jonathan Triesler, .311, and Andrew Kasiski, .289. On the mound, the Tigers are less experienced, with a pair of freshmen right-handers as two of the top three players in terms of innings pitched. Trenton Tiller has started eight games and is 4-0 with a 3.25 ERA and Kieran Conway has appeared in 10 games with six starts, going 0-2 with a 7.06 ERA.
Live stats will be available for the action at CNUsports.com/sidearmstats/baseball
Following the action, CNU will hit the road to Southern Virginia University this weekend, taking on the Knights in a three-game conference series starting Friday, April 12.
