DEMOREST, Ga. -- Hitting the road for the Piedmont Early Season Tournament, the Christopher Newport baseball team will open the 2022 season with three games in Demorest, Ga. this weekend. The Captains (0-0) take on the host Lions of Piedmont University to open the weekend at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, followed by a 10:00 a.m. game Saturday against Cal Lutheran and a Noon first pitch on Sunday against No. 7 Birmingham-Southern.
CNU is receiving votes in the preseason national rankings released by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. Piedmont and Cal Lutheran are also picking up points in the D3baseball.com Top 25 while Birmingham-Southern vaulted up to No. 7 in the preseason poll after finishing 2021 ranked No. 16.
Like Christopher Newport, Piedmont and B-SC are also opening the 2022 season this weekend, while Cal Lutheran enters the tournament with a 4-0 start. CNU owns a 7-6 advantage in the all-time series against Piedmont and has faced Birmingham-Southern once, falling in that matchup. It will be the first ever appearance for CNU against Cal Lutheran.
The veteran lineup for the Captains includes left-handed lead-off man
Conner Clark, named a Collegiate Baseball News Player to Watch heading into his fifth year. Clark is the nation's active leader in stolen bases with 92 career swipes and boasts a .321 career batting average. He ranks second in career runs scored and tenth in hits and returns to the top of the CNU lineup in 2022.
Also back on the offensive side was Conference Rookie of the Year
Jay Cassady after hitting .358 with 17 extra-base hits in his first season.
Scott Crosson and
Alec Reilly hit over .300 in 2021, as did
Brayden Hodges with a .311 mark in 18 starts. Eight of the nine offensive starters from last year's C2C Championship finale are back in the fold for the Captains this season.
On the mound, the Captains will deal with the loss of
Josh Husby, the team's ace who went 5-1 in nine starts during his final campaign. CNU returns the bulk of it's rotation behind Husby, however, including Cassady and
Dylan Weber, who won eight games in 20 combined starts last season.
Colby Shriner was 3-1 with a 3.91 ERA last season and
Jack Braley also picked up a victory in three starts a year ago. In the bullpen,
Jack Rosenberg served as the team's primary closer and struck out 31 batters in 14.1 innings pitched.
Piedmont was picked second in the USA South West Division and earned a first-place vote. Last season, the Lions won 21 games with a pair of All-Americans in the lineup including returner Carter Ballstadt. Cal Lutheran won the national championship in 2017 and were 16-1 in the 2020 season before COVID-19 shut down the season. This year, they are off to a 4-0 start with a three-game sweep over Whitworth last weekend. CNU will also face a Birmingham-Southern squad that features a veteran lineup including second-team All-Conference starter Tristan Harvin and five fifth-year players.
Live video will be available for all three games and links can be found on the baseball schedule at CNUsports.com. Following the trip to Georgia, the Captains will host their home opener on Friday, February 18 against Susquehanna.
