SALISBURY, Md. -- In the first of two games this weekend, the 15th-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team will face its third straight top-25 opponent as the Captains travel to 4th-ranked Salisbury University for a Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference matchup against the Sea Gulls on Saturday at 2:00 pm. CNU will then trek to Raleigh, N.C. to face off against William Peace University on Sunday to wrap up a busy four-game week with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 pm.
The Captains are on an eight-game winning streak while improving to 19-6 overall after dropping No. 25 North Carolina Wesleyan, 8-5, and No. 21 Lynchburg, 22-8, earlier this week. CNU will be taking on a Sea Gull squad that is 21-6 overall and 0-1 in conference play. Saturday's matchup will be the first in the home-and-home series this season between the two teams and the 88th all-time meeting between the two teams. CNU won the last time the two teams faced off, capturing an 8-2 win in the 2023 regular season finale. It will be just the second time that the Captains meet William Peace after opening the season with an extra-inning 2-1 win against the Pacers.
Live stats and a live video webcast will be available for both games with links found on the baseball schedule at CNUsports.com.
For the first time in program history, the Captains feature the top two leaders in Division III strikeouts this season as
Brandon Cassedy, with 83, and
Dylan Weber, with 76, are ranked first and second in the country in punchouts. Cassedy is 6-1 with a 2.42 ERA in eight starts while Weber is 5-1 with a 1.94 ERA and has added three saves for good measure.
As a team, the Captains rank first in strikeouts per nine innings with 11.5 per and also rank fourth in earned run average with a 3.17 mark. In addition to the two big arms at the top of the rotation, the CNU bullpen has been nearly as impressive with a 3.72 ERA over 82.1 innings pitched this season. Senior right-hander
Kyle Lewis has a 2-0 record and four saves this season while striking out 24 in 15.0 innings pitched without surrendering an earned run. He has led a group that includes
Christian Williams (0-1, 2.45 ERA) and
Danny Checkosky (0-1, 1.80 ERA) as the most oft utilized bullpen arms this year.
Offensively, two Captains have started all 25 games including the team's leading hitter in sophomore
Josh Reinhold and junior transfer
Doc Daniels. Reinhold is hitting a team-high .387 while scoring a team-high with 28 runs and adding five stolen bases. Daniels ranks second on the team in RBI with 27 and home runs with four while slugging .510 on the year. This week, sophomore third baseman
Sam Benedict has returned to the starting lineup after a preseason injury held him out of the first 23 games -- his return to form includes hitting .500 (2-4) with three runs scored and two runs driven in during his first two games back.
Salisbury has been ranked among the nation's elite all season long and is currently slotted in at No. 4 in the nation heading into the weekend matchup. The Sea Gulls feature the Division III leader in hitting in Andrew Kell with a .532 average and .642 on-base percentage. Kell also ranks eighth in the nation in slugging with an .899 mark while leading the team in runs with 31. He has a team-high six home rnus with nine doubles and 71 total bases. Also leading the attack is veteran Tim Petrucelli, hitting .363 with a team-high 32 RBI. On the mound, reliever Garrett Beaver leads the team with a 2-1 record, two saves, and 2.01 ERA in 13 appearances this season.
William Peace will counter the Captains after going 9-17 so far this season while being led by Nick Tyler hitting .315 and two more Pacers hitting over .300 in Cole Thompson and Jake Dacunto. Griffin Sandstrum has returned to the lineup and is hitting a team-high .339 with 17 RBI and 10 runs scored this season. The pitching staff is led by Jack McIntosh, posting a 3-3 overall record with two complete games and a 3.83 ERA.
Following the weekend, Christopher Newport will stay on the road for a pair of games next week at Eastern Mennonite on April 16 and at Pfeiffer on April 18.
