NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport baseball team is back in action on Thursday afternoon as the Captains (16-12) take on second-ranked Lynchburg (25-4) at 3:00 p.m. The matchup, originally scheduled for Wednesday, was moved to Thursday afternoon at Captains Park as the two teams are set to square off for the 19th time all-time. 

The series is knotted at nine wins apiece with CNU capturing both wins last year by scores of 22-8 and 13-5. CNU was the last team to defeat the Hornets in the regular season as Lynchburg went on to finish as national runners up in the NCAA Division III World Series. 

This year, Lynchburg has been in the top-ten in the national rankings all season long and has climbed to No. 2 in the D3baseball.com poll. The Hornets have won six in a row and are coming off a 15-3 win over Hampden-Sydney on Wednesday afternoon. 

In honor of Division III week, the CNU Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) has selected Thursday's game as the Code Blue baseball game for the year.

The Captains are coming off a hard-fought 14-11 setback to No. 7 Salisbury on Saturday in which they tied the game twice before the Sea Gulls pulled away late in the game. Leading the way was sophomore Aaron Maxie with a pair of home runs as he raised his team-high RBI count to 25. He is hitting .393 on the year, ranking second on the team, while reaching base at a .537 clip to lead the conference and rank in the top-50 nationally. 

CNU has also been led by leadoff man Jake Benedict, who ranks fifth in the country in total hits with 50 and 20th in total runs scored with 37. Hitting .424, the junior outfielder has delivered 14 extra-base hits and is a perfect 12-for-12 in stolen base attempts this season. His brother, Sam Benedict, has been a top run producer for CNU with 21 RBI in 22 games played while hitting .299 on the season. 

Lynchburg features one of the top pitching staffs in the country with a 2.75 team ERA and 3.24 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Both numbers rank in the top five nationally as the staff is led by Tyler Kaltreider (1.27 ERA) and Nick Mattfield (1.44 ERA) with eight starts apiece. Offensively, Benton Jones is reaching base at a .569 clip and leads the nation in walks with 36 this season. 

The game will be presented live online in a video stream and live stats will also be available at CNUsports.com. 

Following the Thursday afternoon matchup, the Captains will play two games this weekend against Randolph-Macon College. On Saturday, CNU will travel to the Yellow Jackets for a Noon first pitch before the return trip on Sunday as the two teams play at Captains Park at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 13.