FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team will head to Methodist University this weekend for the Armstrong Invitational, taking on three games away from home. The Captains (10-2), ranked No. 18 in the latest D3baseball.com Top 25, will face Averett University, the host Monarchs, and Immaculata University.
First up, CNU will take on Averett at Noon on Friday, March 3 before facing Methodist on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. The final game of the weekend will be played at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday when the Captains face the Mighty Macs.
Live stats and live video webcasts will be available for all the action this weekend. Links to both will be available at CNUsports.com
CNU owns a 36-17 advantage in the all-time series against Averett with five wins in the last six games. The Cougars have started the season with a 3-4-1 overall record including a 6-3 extra-inning win at Greensboro College next weekend.
On Saturday, CNU takes on Methodist for the 95th time and the Captains have picked up wins in three of the last four. Methodist holds a 62-32 advantage in the matchup. The Monarchs are 8-0 and receiving votes in the Top 25 poll.
Finally, the Captains take on Immaculata for the first time ever. The Mighty Macs have played just one game this season after seeing three more canceled or postponed. Immaculata is 0-1 ahead of their trip to North Carolina.
Christopher Newport is led by a talented class of newcomers that have been seeing the ball well at the start of their collegiate careers. Catcher
Zach Dzarnowski is hitting .476 to lead the way in seven starts while freshmen
Jake Benedict (.321),
Brandon Cassedy (.357), and
Josh Reinhold (.316) are all hitting over .300 after their first two weeks. Reinhold leads the team in RBI with nine while senior
Alec Reilly has scored a team-high 13 runs.
On the mound, CNU has been led by
Dylan Weber (3-0) with a 0.52 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 17.1 innings pitched.
Kyle Lewis has appeared in six of the first 12 games and has picked up two wins with a 2.35 ERA.
Daniel Elliott has added a team-high K/9 with 13 strikeouts in 5.2 innings pitched including one save.
Following the weekend trip, the Captains return home for another five games next week. CNU will host Lynchburg on Tuesday, March 7.
