NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team left no doubt in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship Game, capturing the 2024 title behind another darling start by Dylan Weber while the offense put up 16 runs on 21 hits at Captains Park. Playing in front of a season-high crowd, the Captains hoisted the C2C Championship Trophy with a shutout victory, 16-0, and improved to 26-9 this season. 

One week after downing nationally-ranked Salisbury University to capture the regular season crown, fifth-year senior Dylan Weber (9-1) combined with two relievers to blank the University of Mary Washington (27-13) for the tournament title as well. CNU wins its first conference title under the C2C banner and second since joining the Capital Athletic Conference in 2014. 

Weber, the Conference Pitcher of the Year, also made history of his own by striking out eight in the game to capture the crown as the all-time leader in career strikeouts at Christopher Newport with 382 in his illustrious career. Against the Eagles on Saturday, Weber tossed 7.0 strong innings while allowing just three hits and two walks without surrendering a run. He lowered his ERA for the season to 1.35 while also dropping his batting average against to .171 over a team-high 80.0 innings pitched. 

With their ace rolling on the mound, the Captains staked Weber to a big lead early and kept adding to it. CNU jumped on the Mary Washington starter for three runs in the first and added one more in the bottom of the third. CNU then scored four runs in the middle innings and broke the game wide open with a five-run seventh before finishing out the 16-run blitz with three runs in the bottom of the eighth. 

In the bottom of the first, Scott Crosson led off with a walk and Josh Reinhold followed with a single down the left field line. After Zach Dzarnowski walked to load the bases, the Captains' leading run producer, Lincoln Lubsen, stepped to the plate. Needing to face just five pitches, the backstop walked in a run for his 47th RBI of the year. Two batters later, sophomore Sam Benedict hit a hard groundball through the left side to send in another run. Capping the strong first frame, Dzarnowski trotted home when freshman Gus Croll added an RBI walk of his own. 

Lubsen got things started int he third with a double and then advanced to third on the first of three hits in the game by Ayden Stuffel. Benedict picked up his second RBI on a groundball to second after beating out the relay on a tough double-play attempt. 

The Captains continued to get production up and down the lineup in the fifth when Lubsen, Stuffel, and Benedict each reached to load the bases again. Eric Wilson was the Captain with the clutch hit this time, singling down the left field line to plate two more runs. Croll picked up another RBI with a single to center on the very next pitch and with half the game expired, the Captains boasted a 7-0 lead. 

In the sixth, Aaron Maxie slapped a single into left field for an RBI with a pinch hit for the Captains, plating Stuffel. It was the seventh, though, where CNU put the game out of reach with five more runs on six hits and an error. The inning started with a bang as junior second baseman Justin Liakos jumped on the second pitch of his at-bat and left the yard with a home run to left field. The solo shot set up the big inning as the next three batters reached when Crosson singled, Reinhold reached on an error, and pinch hitter Jake Benedict delivered a hard-hit single into right field. 

With the bases loaded, Stuffel drove in a run with a single to left and Maxie smashed a one-hopper to third that was too hot to handle, scoring another run. For the second time in the game, Croll showcased the Captains' patience at the plate with an RBI walk, and Liakos capped an impressive inning with another RBI base hit when he singled on the first pitch of his second AB in the 7th. 

With the Captains turning to the reserves in the later innings, the fireworks kept firing. Reinhold singled up the middle to start the 8th before Gavin Spencer smashed a towering shot to left field that bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double. Cameron Slough drove in a run in his first at-bat with an RBI groundout and Stuffel followed with another groundball RBI. Then came Kevin Mackmin, who left no doubt when he leaned into a 1-0 pitch and crushed a solo home run to right field. 

On the mound, Weber handed the ball off to Colby Shriner in the eighth and the veteran reliever worked around a lead-off walk with a flyout and an inning-ending double play. The groundball went to second before a nifty backhanded flick by Liakos to Reinhold kicked off the 4-6-3 double play. In the ninth, CNU called on Daniel Elliott for the final three outs and the senior right-hander continued his stellar final season with the Captains with a 1-2-3 inning including a game-ending strikeout to clinch the conference championship. 

Six different CNU players finished with multi-hit performances including a game-high three hits apiece for Crosson, Stuffel, and Maxie. Nine different CNU players delivered an RBI including a game-high three from Croll and two runs driven in by five other Captains. 

Due to the C2C only featuring three baseball teams, there is no automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Championship attached to winning the conference title. The Captains will now turn their attention to the NCAA Selection Show on Monday at Noon as they hope for an at-large berth into the postseason event. The event will be streamed live on NCAA.com.