KANNAPOLIS, N.C. -- For the second straight year, the Christopher Newport baseball team will take on the field at the D3 Showcase at the Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis, N.C. In the four-day event, the Captains will face off against Rochester (0-0) at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, No. 18 Denison (0-0) at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, and No. 6 Marietta (1-0) at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.
After an 11-1 win against Bridgewater on Wednesday, the Captains have surged out to a 7-0 start this season. CNU will be playing Rochester for the first time; the Captains won the only matchup ever against Denison; and Marietta has captured a 4-2 edge in the all-time series against Christopher Newport.
The games will be streamed live on YouTube courtesy of the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers organization. Links to each of the three CNU games can be found on the CNUsports.com baseball schedule; there will also be an audio stream and live stats for the Captains matchup against Marietta on Sunday.
The Captains have raced out to a hot start to the 2023 season, led by a dominant pitching performance so far. CNU has a 1.86 team ERA with 83 strikeouts in 63.0 innings pitched with one shutout.
Jay Cassady (1-0) has struck out 14 in a pair of starts while
Dylan Weber (2-0) has 19 K's in just 11.0 innings pitched. Out of the bullpen,
Danny Checkosky has appeared four times without giving up a run, striking out eight batters in 6.2 innings pitched.
Daniel Elliott and
Kyle Lewis have also locked down the back end of the bullpen with 15 strikeouts in 8.2 innings pitched combined.
On the offensive side, Christopher Newport is hitting .296 as a team led by rookies
Ayden Stuffel (.389) and
Sam Benedict (.368). Senior
Alec Reilly has driven in a team-high eight runs with 15 total bases while adding a team-best eight walks. He and
Justin Bowers are the only Captains to start all seven games this season.
All three of the Captains opponents are just opening their 2023 slates with the appearance in North Carolina. Rochester will play CNU in their season opener while both Denison and Marietta will pick up games in the minor league ballpark before their game against the Captains.
Following the trip to Charlotte, the Captains will return home to host Gallaudet University on Tuesday, February 28. First pitch against the Bison at Captains Park is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
