SALEM, Va. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team has two games this week coming on back-to-back days as the Captains (21-9) are headed out of town to face Roanoke College (17-14) on Wednesday evening at 4:00 p.m. before returning home to host Regent University (15-16) on Thursday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
The Captains are coming off a 4-1 win at home on Sunday afternoon against Regent that saw senior right-hander
Cooper Newell throw a nine-inning complete game for the victory.
Christopher Newport is matching up against Roanoke for just the sixth time in program history after the two teams squared off twice last season and split the pair. CNU owns a slight 3-2 advantage in the all-time series dating back to 2020. Against Regent, the Captains own the lone victory in the series after coming the Sunday afternoon win. The 2026 season is the first in Regent baseball history.
On Wednesday, the Captains will play at the Salem-Memorial Ballpark, home of the Salem RidgeYaks -- the single-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Live stats are available online and a live video webcast ($) will also be provided by the Roanoke University staff. In the matchup against the Royals on Thursday, CNU will provide live stats and a free live video stream online at CNUsports.com.
Christopher Newport enters the week hitting .309 as a team with a well-balanced lineup.
Sam Benedict leads the squad with a .389 average and is closing in on his career-high in total hits with 37. The senior second baseman has scored 21 runs and driven in 13 while leading the team in stolen bases with nine this year. His brother,
Jake Benedict, is hitting .359 with a team-high 47 base hits while serving as one of only two players to start all 30 games this year. Benedict has scored 39 runs with a team-high 17 extra-base hits including 11 doubles and six homers to lead the Captains.
The lineup also includes junior first baseman
Aaron Maxie, hitting .373 and slugging .627, along with junior catcher
Cameron Slough, hitting .375 with 15 extra-base hits and a team-high 22 walks. Rookie third baseman
Logan Adams has started 28 games and boasts a .297 average with 25 RBI while the senior playing to his left at shortstop,
Josh Reinhold, has continued his tremendous career reaching base in 131 of 141 career games played.
On the pitcher's mound, the Captains have been led by graduate starter
Jackson Baird with a 4-3 record and 3.04 ERA this season. Baird ranks fifth all-time in CNU history with a .218 batting average against, marking the lowest ever for a pitcher with at least 150 career innings pitched. This season, Baird has a 10.91 strikeouts per nine innings and ranks in the top-ten all-time for a single season. He has 61 strikeouts in 50.1 innings pitched to lead the team while
Cooper Newell is right behind Baird with a 5-0 record and 3.14 ERA. Out of the pen,
Mitchell Mortensen has a 4-0 record and 1.59 ERA for the Captains to lead the relief efforts.
Roanoke is on a five-game slide heading into a Tuesday evening matchup against Southern Virginia before hosting the Captains on Wednesday. The Maroons are 17-14 overall while playing in the highly-competitive Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Dylan Bonzon and Nate Prince lead the offense while hitting .379 and .367, respectively. Michael Hetzel has driven in a team-high 33 runs and is hitting .353 for the Maroons.
Maddox German has led the Regent offense this season by hitting .346 through 28 games played. He has 33 RBI and 14 extra-base hits including three home runs. On the basepaths, Nathan Vaughan has 20 stolen bases and Jordan Hunt has 18 thefts for Regent.
After Thursday's game, the Captains will be off until Monday, April 20 when they travel to Marymount University for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch.
