NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Rounding out the four-game home-and-home series against nationally-ranked Salisbury University (16-3, 9-1), the Christopher Newport baseball team will host the Sea Gulls for a 3:00 p.m. midweek matchup on Wednesday afternoon. The Captains (16-7, 8-3) are a game and a half behind Salisbury in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference standings with five games left on the schedule. 

Just three home games remain in the 2021 regular season slate as Wednesday's contest is the final midweek matchup of the year for the Captains. Christopher Newport will present the game in a live video webcast alongside live stats of the action starting with the first pitch at 3:00 pm. Links can be found at the top of this page and on the baseball schedule at CNUsports.com. 

Neither team has won back-to-back games in the series since the Captains won on April 13, 2016 and March 22, 2017 as the hotly contested battle has played even for the last five seasons. Since the start of the 2016 campaign, CNU and Salisbury have met 12 times with each program capturing six victories. This season, the Sea Gulls have taken two of three with CNU picking up a 10-4 win on the road to split the series away from Captains Park. 

Christopher Newport hasn't played officially since last Tuesday when they defeated Lynchburg, 9-4. The Captains travelled to Methodist University for a pair on Sunday but the games were cancelled before finishing up. CNU has won six straight including a pair of wins over nationally-ranked North Carolina Wesleyan in the run. Salisbury has won two in a row and five of the last six since the Captains handed them just their third loss of the season on April 9. 

Rookie Jay Cassady has been leading the offense with his hot bat, recording five consecutive multi-hit games in a nine-game hitting streak. He has raised his average to a team-best .379 while driving in 20 and scoring 14 times this season. Senior Eric O'Brien is hitting .348 and leads the team in hits (31) and RBI (24). He has also been among the toughest hitters to strike out in the nation this season with just five K's in 89 at-bats. 

At the top of the lineup, outfielder Conner Clark continues his ascent up the leaderboards in Christopher Newport history. In just three seasons leading off for the Captains, Clark ranks fourth in career runs scored (158), fourth in sacrifice bunts (22), and second in stolen bases (86). He is four thefts shy of tying the program record while only five sac bunts away from matching that standard as well. 

Salisbury will counter with the eighth best offensive attack in the country, averaging 10.2 runs per game coming into Wednesday's tilt. Supporting that gaudy number, the entire lineup has been dangerous this season with seven players delivering 12 RBI or more. Senior Justin Meekins leads the way with 21 while also blasting a team-high 5 home runs and hitting .403. Sophomore Kavi Caster has b een dangerous at the top of the lineup with 15 stolen bases and nine extra-base hits while hitting .359. Eleven different Sea Gulls have launched at least one home run this season and six regulars are hitting .316 or better. 

Following the Wednesday matchup against Salisbury, Christopher Newport will head to Southern Virginia University for a pair this weekend. CNU takes on the Knights on Friday, April 30 at 3:00 p.m. and again at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday, May 1.