NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The challenging early slate for the Christopher Newport Captains (5-2) continues this weekend as the 22nd-ranked baseball team will host defending national runner-up No. 15 Messiah University (0-3) for a three-game series. Captains Park will see game one played at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, February 27 with a doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 28.
The Captains have faced two nationally-ranked opponents already in the first seven games including a 17-5 win against No. 13 Cortland in the D3 Showcase last weekend. CNU moved into the D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 this week after starting the year with a 5-1 record. Since, the Captains dropped a game to Bridgewater College on Wednesday and will look to bounce back against the Falcons.
Messiah opened their season with a similar gauntlet having faced perennial power Randolph-Macon for two on the road before dropping a third straight with a matchup at No. 10 Johns Hopkins. On Thursday, Messiah traveled to Eastern Mennonite for a single game before traveling to face Christopher Newport starting on Friday.
CNU owns a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series with all four games coming at Captains Park. The first was a loss to Messiah in the 2012 NCAA Regional before the Captains went on to win that tournament. Since, Christopher Newport has won three in a row after sweeping a three-game set last season. Messiah went on to reach the NCAA Division III World Series and closed the year at 39-16 overall.
For fans unable to attend in person, live stats and a live video webcast will be available at CNUsports.com.
The Captains offense is averaging 10.3 runs per game and ranks 38th nationally in the early stages of the 2026 season. The lineup has rapped 22 doubles through the first seven games including six of the first 12 hits of the season by leadoff man
Jake Benedict. He has added a home run and is slugging .656 while ranking fifth nationally in total doubles already this year. Senior shortstop
Josh Reinhold is hitting .500 with 10 RBI and nine runs scored while leading the team with a perfect 4-for-4 start on the basepaths. Junior Aaron axie has also been a force at the plate with 15 RBI and two home runs in his first 31 at-bats while hitting .452.
Hitting .335 as a team, the starting lineup includes junior catcher
Cameron Slough, hitting .423, and
Jacob Koenig, hitting .320.
On the mound, seniors
Cooper Newell,
Jackson Baird, and
Ryan Morrison have combined to go 3-1 in six starts this season. The trio have struck out 27 over 25.2 innings pitched while being led by Newell (2-0, 5.40 ERA) with 11 K's this season. Out of the pen, rookie
Cam Comins has gotten off to a strong start with five strikeouts in two appearances.
Eli Novario has also tossed two scoreless appearances with a pair of K's in 1.2 innings pitched.
Messiah has scored 15 runs through the first three games with David Martinez leading the offense with a .400 average. The Falcons have stolen 13 bases as a team including four players snagging a pair of thefts already this year. Carter Reid and Isaiah Parido are among them while both are hitting .364 so far this season. The pitching staff has been led by Christian Foltz, who struck out seven over 3.2 innings pitched at Randolph-Macon.
Following the three-game series against Messiah, the Captains will play five games over the next week. CNU will travel to Averett University (Mar 3) and Eastern Mennonite (Mar 5) before hosting a three-game series against No. 23 Penn State Harrisburg next weekend.
