TYSONS, Va. -- Playing at Capital One Park in Northern Virginia, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team earned a weekend sweep over Mary Washington (26-12, 0-3) in Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference action and picked up the program's 30th win of the season. The Captains downed Mary Washington, 5-2, and are now 30-7, reaching the 30-win plateau for just the seventh time in program history. 

All seven 30-win campaigns for the CNU baseball team have come under head coach John Harvell, who collected his 600th career victory earlier this season. In all six of the previous 30-win seasons, the Captains advanced to NCAA Tournament play including three Division III World Series appearances. This season, the Captains reached 30 wins in just 37 games, tying for the second fastest mark since 2012 when the top-ranked CNU squad started the year 30-6. In 2019, CNU was 30-5 and in 2011 the Captains opened the year with 30 wins in a program record 33 games. 

The 5-2 victory on Sunday is the eighth straight against the Eagles. CNU never trailed in the game as sophomore Jackson Baird improved to 6-1 on the season with a quality start, tossing 6.0 innings and giving up just two runs. The right-hander struck out three without issuing a walk and scattered nine hits to earn his sixth victory of the season. 

After both starting pitchers threw up zeroes the first time through the lineup, it was the Captains that struck first with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth. Zach Dzarnowski led things off with a single and moved up 90 feet on a walk by Justin Bowers. After an infield single loaded the bases, it was rookie Ayden Stuffel that drove in the game's first run with a deep fly ball to left for a sacrifice fly. Ethan Weaver then plated Bowers with an RBI single, giving the Captains a 2-0 lead. 

That advantage was split in half in the bottom half of the inning, but the Captains responded with another run in the top of the fifth to take a 3-1 lead. Josh Reinhold singled and moved up to second on a groundball out by Dzarnowski. After a wild pitch advanced the runner, Bowers singled into center field to drive in CNU's third run. 

Rounding out the offensive production on Sunday was another 2-run inning in the top of the sixth. The first two batters were retired, but the Captains staged a two-out rally with Sam Benedict kicking things off with a double into the corner. A pair of wild pitches advanced him to third and then on to home as CNU took a 4-1 lead. Weaver then walked and promptly stole second base, setting up an RBI single by Scott Crosson into left field. 

Mary Washington took advantage of an error in the bottom of the inning to trim the lead to three, 5-2, but the Captains' bullpen made sure Baird would get the win with three innings of scoreless relief. Brandon Cassedy took over on the mound in the seventh, inducing an inning-ending double play in both the seventh and eighth innings, and then handed the ball off to Kyle Lewis in the ninth. Facing the Eagles for the second time in as many days, Lewis showed no sign of fatigue, striking out the first two batters he faced before a fly ball to left ended the game with the three-out save. 

The Captains will next travel to Virginia Wesleyan University on Wednesday, April 26 for the final non-conference game of the season as the Marlins will throw out first pitch at 3:00 p.m. CNU will close the year with a road trip to top-ranked Salisbury on Saturday, April 29 and a home game against the Sea Gulls on Sunday, April 30.