ABINGTON, Pa. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team is back in action this weekend as the Captains (13-6) travel to Penn State Abington for a doubleheader on Saturday with first pitch slated for 11:00 a.m. CNU will also travel to Bridgewater College on Monday for a 2:00 p.m. bout, weather permitting, to kick off a busy eight-day stretch featuring five games.
First up is the trip to Pennsylvania where the Captains will meet up with the Abington Nittany Lions for just the second time in program history. It will be the first road trip to Penn State Abington as the previous matchup was played at Captains Park back in 2009 when Christopher Newport captured a 17-0 win and a 1-0 start in the all-time series. This season, Penn State Abington is 5-13 to start the year and are coming off an 18-3 win over Valley Forge on Monday.
Live stats will be available for both games and the link can be found on the CNUsports.com website.
Christopher Newport has won five of the last six games including two straight against Piedmont University. The Captains had their mid-week matchup against North Carolina Wesleyan rained out and have not been back on the diamond for nearly a week as they head into the weekend twin bill.
The pitching staff has highlighted the Captains' success this season as Christopher Newport ranks third nationally in team ERA (2.68) and strikeouts per nine innings (11.3). Led by
Dylan Weber (3-1, 1.40 ERA),
Brandon Cassedy (4-1, 2.19 ERA), and
Jack Braley (2-0, 3.55 ERA), the Captains' pitching staff has limited hits to just 7.68 per nine innings, ranking 15th in Division III. Among active Division III pitchers, Weber ranks second nationally in carer starts and third in career strikeouts, with 317. On the same list, Weber ranks in the top-25 and Cassedy is 12th in K/9 over the course of his career, striking out 12.09 per nine innings pitched.
The tough arms continue into the bullpen as
Danny Checkosky and
Kyle Lewis represent two of the most solid back-end options in Division III baseball. Lewis ranks sixth among active players in K/9 with a 12.44 mark and Checkosky has appeared in a team-high 62 career games as a reliever, ranking fifth over the course of his career. The two have combined for 17 appearances this spring with three saves and 26 strikeouts over 20 innings pitched.
Offensively,
Zach Dzarnowski leads the attack with a .357/.483/.471 slash line and a team-high 21 RBI this season. Junior
Lincoln Lubsen has also driven in 21 RBI while hitting .355 in 18 starts. Sophomore shortstop
Josh Reinhold has reached in all 19 games this season and boasts a .329 average while scoring a team-high 21 runs.
Penn State Abington is led by Sean Doherty with a .389 average this spring while slugging .569. The Nittany Lions have hit 17 homers, including a team-high five by Eric Rollins, who also has a team-high 21 RBI.
Following the Saturday pair, the Captains will travel to Bridgewater College for a game on Monday. CNU will then be at home against Pfeiffer on Tuesday, April 2 at 3:00 p.m.
