NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Becoming just the second player in Christopher Newport baseball history to start 50 games in his career, fifth-year senior Dylan Weber picked up a win in the milestone moment as the nationally-ranked Captains defeated No. 25 North Carolina Wesleyan, 8-5, on Tuesday afternoon. Weber tied Eben Brower (2020-24) for third all-time with 23 career victories after striking out 12 Battling Bishops in the nationally-ranked showdown as Christopher Newport improved to 18-6 overall this season.

Taking on a familiar foe in the former conference rivals, the Captains matched up against N.C. Wesleyan for the 103rd time in the all-time series. With the win on Monday, CNU won the seventh straight in the matchup and kicked off a week that includes four games with three coming against nationally-ranked competition. 

Leading the way on Monday was Weber, who improved to 5-1 on the season in the outing. He looked primed for his 50th career start with a 1-2-3 first inning, striking out the side in order to start the game in front of a growing crowd at Captains Park. He would add another strikeout to start the second inning to open the game with four straight K's and worked swiftly through the early portion of the lineup. 

The first batter to put a ball in play against Weber tested a newcomer to the CNU lineup in sophomore third baseman Sam Benedict. The All-Conference third baseman made his season debut after recovering from a preseason injury and a hard hit groundball to the left side was snuffed out by a dazzling defensive play from Benedict, diving to his left and leaping to his feet to make the throw across the diamond. It was a sign of positive things to come for the Glastonbury, Conn. native who made a nice charging play two batters later to end the top of the second for Weber.

Despite the early dominance, it was the Bishops striking first in the top of the third inning. Weber surrendered a two-run home run to Tyler Bass, his 11th of the season, and the visitors took an early 2-0 lead. The Captains' ace limited the damage to two with another groundball out to third base and a flyball to center field. 

Both teams would go quietly through the next two half innings but in the bottom of the fourth it was the Captains turn to light up the scoreboard. Taking advantage of their patience at the plate, the CNU attack scored five runs on two hits and an error to take the lead.

Lincoln Lubsen started things off with an infield single before Ayden Stuffel added a single through the right side that allowed Lubsen to speed into third base. Jacob Koenig walked to load the bases and then Eric Wilson got the Captains on the board with an RBI HBP on an 0-1 pitch. After the Bishops got the second out of the inning, CNU caught fire as Benedict worked a game-tying bases loaded walk that would chase the starting pitcher from the game. The reliever wound up with the same fate against the first batter he faced as Josh Reinhold battled back from an 0-2 hole to earn a go-ahead RBI walk. The free pass would give CNU a 3-2 lead and the Captains would not relinquish the lead the rest of the game. 

Reinhold, who had also singled in an earlier at-bat, extended his on-base streak to 66 straight games while also adding to his team-leading 13-game hitting streak. His program record streak now moves into the top five all-time in Division III as he tied Austin Filiere (MIT) who reached base in every game from March 26, 2016 through May 7, 2017. The inning would continue when Zach Dzarnowski reached on a throwing error by the catcher and two more runs would race around to score for CNU as the home team took a 5-2 lead. 

With the lead in hand, Weber responded with another 1-2-3 frame and two more strikeouts in the top of the fifth inning. He worked quickly through his fifth frame, needing just 13 pitches to get his offense back to the plate. In the sixth, however, Weber encountered some more trouble after a walk and hit-by-pitch started the inning. On a sacrifice bunt attempt, Weber could not come up with the ball and the error loaded the bases with nobody out. After getting ahead of Javi Quintana, 0-2, the Bishops designated hitter delivered with a two-run single into center field. Another error loaded the bases again and forced Lubsen to the mound for a quick conference. Leading just one, 5-4, with nobody out and the bases full of Bishops, Weber locked in and struck out the next three batters to strand all three runners and hold onto the lead. 

The impressive finish to the shaky inning capped another outstanding start by Weber with four runs allowed on five hits with 12 strikeouts and one walk. He gave way to veteran relievers Danny Checkosky, Colin D'Arcy, and Kyle Lewis for an inning apiece the rest of the way. 

Picking up their starting pitcher, the CNU offense got those two runs right back in the bottom fo the sixth when Benedict led things off with a single through the left side. After a successful sacrifice bunt by Reinhold, the Captains would send Lubsen to the plate with a runner in scoring position and two out. The catcher timed up the first pitch he saw and demolished the offering over the wall in left center field. His team-leading fourth home run gave the Captains a three-run lead again, 8-4.

Checkosky worked efficiently through the seventh inning, needing just 12 pitches to get through his ninth relief appearance of the year. Ending the inning was right fielder Jacob Koenig with a sensational diving play to the gap for the third out while making his first career start in the outfield. In the eighth, D'Arcy made his second appearance of the season and allowed a single run on one hit and exited with CNU ahead by three, 8-5. 

Wrapping up the win for Christopher Newport was Kyle Lewis as the senior reliever continued his phenomenal year out of the pen with his team-leading 13th appearance. Entering the ninth in his fourth save chance of the year, the Leesburg, Va. native wasted no time locking down the Bishops in just eight pitches. He induced a pair of quick groundball outs and struck out the final batter on three pitches to slam the door for the CNU win. 

Four CNU players finished with multi-hit games including Reinhold, who now has seven straight multi-hit performances for the Captains after going 2-for-3 with a walk and a sacrifice bunt on Monday. Lubsen was 2-for-5 with the big blow while Doc Daniels  (2-5) and Ayden Stuffel (2-5) each also finished with multiple hits. In Benedict's return to the lineup, the sophomore third baseman was 1-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored. 

Christopher Newport will next take on the defending national champs from Lynchburg as the Captains host the University of Lynchburg on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m.