MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- The Christopher Newport baseball team is back in action for three straight days starting Monday, March 2 as the Captains head to South Carolina for three games at the Ripken Baseball Complex in Myrtle Beach. The Captains (5-4) will face Eastern Nazarene College, New England College, and Johnson & Wales University during the spring break trip.
Live video will be available for the games on Monday and Tuesday against ENC and NEC. Those games can be found at CNUsports.com/watch. Recaps and box scores for all three games will be available online following the action.
The Captains are coming off a 10-4 win against previously unbeaten Washington & Lee University in their last outing on Thursday, February 27. CNU has won three of four while scoring an average of eight runs per game during that stretch. The matchups against Eastern Nazarene and New England College will be the first ever for Christopher Newport and just the third ever game against Johnson & Wales.
This season, Christopher Newport has been led by sophomore
Michael Martorano with eight hits in 19 at-bats this season. The second-year outfielder has smashed a pair of home runs and has six RBI and six runs scored. Hitting at the top of the lineup,
Conner Clark is hitting .405 through the first nine games with a team-high 15 hits. He has seven stolen bases and has scored 12 times to run his career total to 120; the next run he scores will put him into the top-ten all-time at Christopher Newport in career runs scored. Senior
Trey Hicks is also hitting .361 while tied for the team lead in RBI with seven. The outfielder has ripped four doubles.
The Captains pitching staff is led by senior
Teddy Herbert (2-0), holding opponents to a .208 batting average against so far this season. Joining him in the rotation, rookies
Connor Pennell (0-0) and
Dylan Weber (0-0) are off to strong starts in their career. Pennell has allowed just one earned run while striking out 12 batters in 11.0 IP while Weber has a team-high 17 strikeouts in 14.2 IP in his first year. Out of the pen, senior southpaw
Brian Owens (0-1, 1 SV) has 13 strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work while appearing in seven of the nine CNU games this season.
Eastern Nazarene has opened the season witha 3-0 start getting wins from seniors Daniel Rivera and Brenndan Rogers with rookie reliever Jon Tessier picking up the third victory. The Lions pitching staff has allowed just six runs in 24 frames for a 2.25 team ERA through their first three games. Offensively Steven Pesce is hitting .364 wtih a double, home run, and six RBI.
New England College opened the season with a win and will play three more games before facing the Captains in Myrtle Beach on Tuesday. The Pilgrims defeated Emerson College on Thursday, February 27 in seven innings, 7-5. A six-run second inning was enough to hold off a comeback bid from Emerson.
Finally, Christopher Newport will take on Johnson & Wales in Myrtle Beach before also facing them at Captains Park later this season. The Wildcats are opening their season on Tuesday against St. Elizabeth before facing the Captains on Wednesday.
