NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- After helping lift the nationally-ranked Captains to a pair of wins last week, rookie Lukas Miller was named the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week. Miller recorded five hits in eight at-bats as CNU dropped No. 24 Randolph-Macon, 3-1, and also defeated Hampden-Sydney College, 6-3, on the road. 

Miller started as the designated hitter in both games and hit out of the cleanup spot for the Captains. First, in the top-25 showdown against Randolph-Macon, Miller went 2-for4 with a run scored. In the bottom of the second inning, Miller led off with a single and scored on a single by Brayden Mazzoni for the game's first run. CNU scored twice more in the inning and held onto the win against the Yellow Jackets. Miller added another single in the bottom of the third to notch a multi-hit performance. 

Then, in the road game at Hampden-Sydney, the freshman DH went 3-for-4 with a run scored against the Tigers. He added a walk and wrapped up the week reaching base in six of his nine plate appearances (.667). He doubled down the line in the top of the sixth inning to set up a go-ahead two-run home run from Gus Croll. Then, one inning later, he singled into center field and moved Cameron Slough up to third base, who would eventually come in to score an important insurance run for the Captains. 

Miller wrapped up the week with his fifth hit, another single, in the top of the ninth inning against Hampden-Sydney. He hit .625 for the week and raised his batting average to .393 through the first ten games of his career with 11 hits in 28 at-bats including a pair of doubles. 

The Captains will return to action on Tuesday, March 24 with a home game against Methodist University scheduled for 3:00 p.m. CNU will host the Monarchs at Captains Park with live stats and a live video webcast available online. The Captains have dropped two in a row to Methodist with the last win coming at home during the 2022 season, 5-3. 

This year, CNU is 15-5 overall with four wins in a row heading into Tuesday's matchup. The Captains are hitting .311 as a team this season with junior Cameron Slough and senior Jake Benedict starting all 20 games. Slough is hitting .356 and ranks second on the team in RBI with 22 and Benedict is also hitting .356 with at eam-high 26 runs scored. Brayden Mazzoni has caught fire and is one of six Captains leading the team with three home runs apiece and Mazzoni is hitting .333 in 14 games played. 

On the mound, the CNU pitching staff has lowered the season ERA to 5.81 with three straight exceptional pitching performances. Cooper Newell (4-0, 2.33 ERA) leads the staff while Jackson Baird (2-2, 2.59 ERA) has a team-high 37 strikeouts in six starts this year. Out of the pen, sophomore Charlie Gunn is 3-for-3 in save opportunities with a 2-0 record and 2.92 ERA. Junior Mitchell Mortensen has made eight relief appearances and boasts a 2-0 record and a 2.13 ERA so far. 

Methodist is playing its first season of baseball without Tom Austin at the helm in nearly 50 years as the legendary head coach retired last summer. This season, under interim head coach Spencer Martin, the Monarchs are 8-12 heading into the mid-week matchup with the Captains. Ten of those 12 losses have been by four runs or less as Methodist continues its reputation as a tough opponent in 2026. 

The Monarchs offense is led by Austin Rinzel, who ranks fifth nationally in batting average with a .530 mark at this point in the year. He leads the country in base hits, with 44, and also is among the top-15 nationally in runs scored, with 31. Rinzel has delivered seven extra-base hits while leading the squad on the base paths with 10 stolen bases this year. Adding to the potent lineup is Blake Freeman, boasting a .382 average through the first 20 games of the year. 

Following the Tuesday afternoon tilt against Methodist, CNU will return to action on Wednesday with a road trip to nationally-ranked Bridgewater for a 3:00 p.m. matchup.