FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- After playing the first eight games over ten days this season, the 15th-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team earned a much-deserved break and have been off since Sunday. The Captains (6-2) will toe the rubber for three more this weekend, kicking off another long stretch that includes eight more games in a span of eight days. CNU is headed to the 2024 Armstrong Invitational, hosted by Methodist University, and will play games on Saturday against Immaculata (10:30 a.m.) and Wittenberg (5:30 p.m.) before taking on the host Monarchs on Sunday (2:30 p.m.).
This week, Christopher Newport vaulted five spots in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 and are ranked No. 15 in the nation following a 6-2 start. Immaculata is receiving votes in the national poll and is 3-1 to start the year; Wittenberg is off to a 2-1 start and saw their Friday afternoon matchup against Methodist postponed due to rain; and, Methodist is 4-3 so far this season.
This will be just the third ever matchup for Christopher Newport against Immaculata after splitting a pair last season. CNU lost to the Mighty Macs in this same event during the regular season before rebounding for a 9-2 win in the NCAA Regional at Shenandoah. The Saturday evening tilt against Wittenberg is the first ever showdown between the two programs, but the Sunday afternoon bout against Methodist is against one of the most familiar foes in program history. The Monarchs and Captains have faced off 95 times prior to Sunday with CNU collecting 32 wins.
Leading the way for the Captains at the plate has been junior transfer
Lincoln Lubsen, hitting .444 and slugging nearly .900 through his first seven games in Newport News. He was named to the D3baseball.com National Team of the Week and was also crowned the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week for his efforts at the D3 Showcase, collecting nine RBI in a single doubleheader. At the top of the order,
Scott Crosson has set the table nicely, hitting .357 with a team-high five doubles and an OBP of .514; two more CNU players are hitting over .300 including
Josh Reinhold (.313) and
Zach Dzarnowski (.310).
On the mound, CNU earned back-to-back C2C Pitcher of the Week certificates as fifth-year senior
Dylan Weber (1-0) and second-year starter
Brandon Cassedy (2-0) are off to a pair of great starts. Both players have struck out 15 through their first two starts while holding opponents to a combined 12 hits in 23.0 innings pitched.
Jack Braley rounds out a standout rotation with a 3.38 ERA after his first two starts this season.
In the bullpen, the Captains have been particularly formidable, featuring six relievers who have yet to give up an earned run in 16 combined appearances. Leading the way are
Christian Williams and
Kyle Lewis who have made five and four appearances, respectively, with 15 K and just five hits allowed over 8.1 innings combined.
Immaculata has played four games and are led by Shawn Haut, hitting .545 with an OPS of 1.303. He has four walks and six hits to lad the Mighty Macs offense while Stephen DiBattista had the best start so far for Immaculata with 4.0 innings of one-hit shutout ball.
Wittenberg won two of three on the road at Ferrum las week and piled up an impressive 32 runs in the three-game set. Senior outfielder Luke Thomas went 10-for-14 (.714) with three doubles while Matt Moore added a 7-for-13 (.538) series and leads the team with eight RBI.
Rounding out this weekend's opponents, Methodist was riding a four-game winning streak before getting nipped by Hanover College, 13-12, in a mid-week neutral site matchup in Myrtle Beach. The Monarchs have kept scoring limited until that outing, holding opponents to an average of just 2.3 runs scored before the Hanover game. Three Methodist starters lead the way as Brandon Humphreys (0-0, 0.90 ERA), Kyle Molivas (1-0, 1.50 ERA), and Andrew Bauer (1-1, 2.45 ERA) have combined for all seven starts this season.
Following the trip to Fayetteville, the Captains will head West to take on Pfeiffer University in a Wednesday afternoon matchup at Pfeiffer University at 3:00 p.m.
