ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. -- The nationally-ranked CNU baseball team is back in action this weekend with a pair of games against St. Mary's College of Maryland. The Captains will travel to Maryland for a 2:00 p.m. first pitch on Saturday before returing to Captains Park for a 2:00 p.m. matchup on Sunday against the Seahawks.
Christopher Newport is 16-6 after a hard-fought setback to nationally-ranked Bridgewater College on Wednesday while St. Mary's (Md.) enters the weekend with a 7-9 overall record after wins in three of the last four.
The Captains own a 20-5 advantage in the all-time series against St. Mary's (Md.) but have only faced the Seahawks once in the last five seasons. CNU has won three in a row with all three matchups coming at Captains Park. Saturday's matchup in Maryland will be the first trip to St. Mary's since 2021 when the Captains split a pair on the road. CNU is 9-2 against SMC at home and 11-3 in away games.
This season, the Captains are averaging just under nine runs per game while hitting .312 as a team. Two Captains have started all 22 games this year in senior
Jake Benedict and junior
Cameron Slough. Benedict is hitting .354 with a team-high 29 runs scored while hitting out of the leadoff spot; Slough is hitting .370 and has a team-high 24 RBI.
Sam Benedict has caught fire of late and is hitting .371 this season with four straight multi-hit games to help lead the Captains lineup.
On the pitching mound, the veteran rotation is leading the way with graduate student
Jackson Baird posting a 2-2 record and 2.59 ERA through six starts. A pair of seniors join him in the rotation as
Cooper Newell is 4-0 with a 3.09 ERA while
Ryan Morrison is 1-0 with a 6.59 ERA. In the bullpen, junior
Mitchell Mortensen has pitched the most innings with 15.2 thrown while boasting a 3-0 record and 2.30 ERA.
Charlie Gunn has appeared in the most games with 12 pitching appearances and the sophomore right-hander is 2-0 with 3 saves and a 2.70 ERA.
St. Mary's has been led this season by Connor Wilkerson with a .519 average after 14 games played. Wilkerson ranks eighth in Division III in batting average this season and leads the Seahawks in RBI and runs scored with 18 and 22, respectively. Aaron Wathen and Eli Shafer have also helped bolster the offense with 13 hits in 42 at-bats apiece for a .310 average. On the mound, Ryan Matthews is 3-1 with a 4.24 ERA in five starts to lead the rotation while Adam Ferony has the most relief appearances this season with six.
After the Captains play a pair this weekend against St. Mary's, the calendar will flip to April and Christopher Newport will open the new month on April 1 against North Carolina Wesleyan at 3:00 p.m.
