NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport baseball team, ranked No. 22 in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 poll, will host Piedmont University (11-6) for three games at Captains Park this weekend. The Captains (11-5) were also ranked No. 13 ahead of the series in this week's Perfect Game Division III poll released on Wednesday.
CNU has won three in a row heading into the weekend, which has featured schedule changes against the Lions. On Friday, the Captains will host Piedmont for a doubleheader set to begin at Noon. A game originally scheduled for Saturday will be played on Friday and the two teams will match up again on Sunday with a game time to be determined based on field conditions.
CNU and Piedmont are deadlocked in the all-time series with seven wins apiece with the first meeting dating back to the 2004 season. CNU last hosted the Lions on February 14, 2020 in a 9-4 win at Captains Park in non-conference action. Prior to that, Piedmont traveled to Newport News for a three-game set in 2013 when the pair competed in the USA South Athletic Conference.
Fans unable to attend in person will be able to watch the game live online at CNUsports.com with live stats also available.
The Captains feature one of the top pitching staffs in the country so far this season, ranking third in K/9 and fifth in ERA. Led by
Dylan Weber (3-1, 1.42 ERA) and
Brandon Cassedy (4-0, 1.50 ERA), the staff has struck out 180 batters in 140.2 innings pitched. Weber and Cassedy have combined for 92 punchouts in 61.2 innings while
Jack Braley (1-0, 4.26 ERA) has started four games to round out the starting rotation.
In the bullpen,
Kyle Lewis (2 SV, 0.00 ERA) has made a team-high eight appearances with 16 strikeouts over 10.0 innings pitched.
Christian Williams (0-1, 1.59 ERA) also has seven appearances out of the pen with just one run allowed and seven strikeouts.
Offensively, CNU has been a doubles factory, ranking in the top-ten nationally in two-base hits.
Scott Crosson leads the squad with seven doubles while
Zach Dzarnowski,
Josh Reinhold, and
Ayden Stuffel each have five.
Lincoln Lubsen has tacked on four two-baggers while adding a pair of home runs as he leads the Captains with a .373 average this season.
Piedmont opened the season with three straight losses but then rolled to wins in eight of the next nine games. The Lions won a three-game set against Emory last week and is coming off a 6-2 win over The College of Wooster. The Lions rank 19th in Division III staff ERA with a 3.38 mark so far while the defense has been sound behind the Piedmont hurlers, ranking 23rd in fielding percentage.
Isaak Mullanack leads the team with a 1.100 OPS through his first 14 games played while hitting .400 and boasting six extra-base hits. Nathan Mix, hitting .308, leads the team with 18 RBI.
Following the three-game set against the former conference foes, the Captains will host nationally-ranked North Carolina Wesleyan on Wednesday, March 27 at 3:00 p.m.
