FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- Christopher Newport starter Dylan Weber combined with two relievers for a three-hit shutout on the road in Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon as the Captains (23-8, 2-1) earned an 11-0 blanking over Mary Washington. Weber tossed seven strong innings to lead the way as CNU notched its third shutout of the season while the offense was led by a career-high five hits from sophomore outfielder Ayden Stuffel. 

Picking up a pivotal win in conference play, the Captains moved into a tie for first place in the C2C standings with just one game left to decide the 2024 regular season champions. CNU and Salisbury will match up on May 4 with the top seed and conference tournament hosting duties on the line. 

From the first pitch of the game, Weber was locked in against the Eagles and put together another outstanding pitching performance on the mound for the Captains. Perfect through the first four frames, Weber was dominant with four strikeouts in the first six batters faced. After adding another K in the third, he went out for the fourth and struck out the side for the second time in the game, racking up his eighth punchout against the Eagles in just four innings. 

Mary Washington finally reached against Weber in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of hits through the infield and walk, but the Captains' ace stranded the bases loaded with a key groundball out. In the sixth, Weber went 1-2-3 again and, wrapping up another stellar showcase, the left-handed star worked around a two-out single in the seventh to close out the clean start with just three hits allowed. 

CNU turned to Colin D'Arcy in the eighth and the home team found no solace in relief as the Captains veteran quickly struck out a pair and induced an inning-ending groundball to second. The frame was a carbon copy of his home outing against Washington and Lee on Thursday in which he had two strikeouts and a groundball to the right side for back-to-back 1-2-3 frames. 

With a big lead in the ninth, Jackson Gimbel also impressed in his single frame to finish out the combined shutout. After the first batter reached on an error, the sophomore struck out back-to-back batters and got a pinch hitter to groundout to third for the final out of the game. 

The three pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts and just one walk while giving up three hits in nine innings. Mary Washington sent up just four batters over the minimum as the CNU pitching staff kept the home team off the basepaths throughout the nine-inning game. 

While the arms were electric, the Captains offense continued its hot stretch at the plate with 11 runs on 13 hits against the Eagles. Leading the way was Stuffel, who went a perfect 5-for-5 at the plate to notch a new career high for hits in a game and marked the most in a game for a single player this season. It was the first time a CNU player has logged five or more hits in a game since Jonathan Fisher was 5-for-7 against Southern Virginia on May 1, 2021. Stuffel also scored once and drove in a pair for CNU on Saturday while Zach Dzarnowski, Doc Daniels, and Jacob Koenig each added multi-RBI performances. 

The CNU offense struck first in the top of the fourth when Josh Reinhold extended his career-record on-base streak to 73 straight games with a leadoff walk. Dzarnowski followed with a walk and Daniels ripped an RBI single through the left side. That would bring up Stuffel, who connected on his second hit with a single through the right side to plate Dzarnowski. 

After taking a 2-0 lead in the fourth, the Captains tacked on five in the fifth to break the game open. Scott Crosson worked a one-out walk and Dzarnowski again reached with a free pass. Lincoln Lubsen then pulled a groundball through the left side for an RBI single, kickstarting a string of four straight RBI base hits. Daniels followed with an RBI single and Stuffel blistered an RBI double to center field to plate Lubsen from second base. Finally, Koenig chased in two more with an RBI single through the left side. 

Wrapping up the run scoring with four runs in the top of the eighth, the late rally started with Stuffel in the leadoff spot. The sophomore singled up the middle before pinch hitter Aaron Maxie walked to put two on for the Captains. Sam Benedict then singled through the left side to load the bases and, two batters, later, Reinhold drove in a run with an infield single. Finishing out the dominant day at the dish, Dzarnowski cleared the bases with a double to the gap as Christopher Newport opened up an 11-0 lead with just one inning left to play. 

Stuffel raised his season's batting average 30 percentage points with the 5-for-5 day and is now the seventh CNU regular hitting over .300 this season. His 36 hits this season are ranked third on the team behind only Reinhold's 49 and Daniels 39; he is also ranked second on the team in runs scored with 31 trips across home plate this season. 

On the mound, Weber improved to 7-1 and now boasts a 1.55 ERA through 64.0 innings pitched. He has 96 strikeouts and is holding opponents to just a .181 batting average against this season. He has tossed 14 straight scoreless innings after Saturday's outing. 

Christopher Newport will stay on the road for the next two games as they are scheduled to play at Lynchburg on Tuesday, April 30 at 3:00 p.m. and at Randolph-Macon on Wednesday, May 1 at 3:00 p.m.