KANNAPOLIS, N.C. -- Christopher Newport senior starter Dylan Weber (3-0) pieced together one of the finest outings of his illustrious career on Sunday afternoon, firing six innings of no-hit ball against the No. 6-ranked team in the nation, the Marietta College Pioneers (2-2). Weber struck out six and kept the Etta Express off balance all afternoon while the offense scored eight runs in the sixth to blow open a big win at the D3 Showcase, 10-0. 

The Captains improved to 9-1 with the performance after another excellent week with a 4-1 record in five games. Weber has been a catalyst for the early season success, improving to 3-0 while allowing just four hits over his first 17.1 innings pitched. 

On Sunday, the southpaw moved up the top-ten all-time in career strikeouts at CNU with 186, passing Josh Husby for ninth all-time. His six punchouts against Marietta give him 25 so far this season paired with just seven walks. 

Marietta mustered just a pair of walks in the first two innings before Weber really settled in. He retired 13 batters in a row from the third inning to the start of the seventh when Marietta's leadoff batter doubled to left field to end his bid for a no-hitter. One batter later, Weber caught the next batter looking on a wicked breaking ball on the inside corner to cap an outstanding overall performance with 6.1 innings pitched, 6 SO, 2 BB, 1 H, and 0 ER allowed.

Daniel Elliott would come in for the final two outs of the seven-inning matchup, striking out both batters he faced to slam the door on any potential comeback bid. 

Offensively, the Captains staked Weber to all he would need in the second inning when Scott Crosson led off with a double and raced home on a Zach Dzarnowski single to open the game's scoring. Justin Bowers then lifted off to start the fourth inning, hammering a solo shot to deep center field for his third home run of the season. 

In the top of the sixth, the Captains broke open the game with an eight-run inning that spanned just under 40 minutes during Weber's no-hit bid. The delay did not stymie his excellence, as he went 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the sixth after CNU sent 14 batters to the plate, grabbed four hits and took advantage of three errors in the inning. 

With the bases loaded, Crosson delivered the first run of the inning with a sacrifice fly. Dzarnowski then chased in Bowers with an RBI single and Alec Reilly also scored on an errant throw. The line kept moving as Jake Benedict ripped an RBI single up the middle and Elliott made it to first on the third error of the inning. Ayden Stuffel added an RBI single into right field and another run scored on a wild pitch. After a walk and another wild pitch, two runners were in scoring position for Josh Reinhold. The freshman squared up a pitch and blistered a line drive into center field to score two more runs for the Captains, capping an impressive eight-run frame. 

Dzarnowski led the offensive performance with a 2-for-4 showing and two RBI. Reinhold's two RBI came after a 1-for-2, two-walk performance while Reilly also continued to show off a fantastic eye at the plate this season with two more free passes. The senior outfielder now has 13 walks in the Captains' first 10 games. 

Christopher Newport will return to action on Tuesday, February 28 as they play host to Gallaudet University at Captains Park. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.