North Tidewater News

CNU Baseball Ranked No. 30 in Collegiate Baseball News Preseason Poll; Three Captains Named Players to Watch

Coming off a 27-win campaign that saw the Captains reach the NCAA Regional Championship Game, Christopher Newport baseball will start the 2023 campaign ranked No. 30 in the nation in the Collegiate Baseball News Preseason National Rankings. The Captains also featured three "Players to Watch" in the publication, as juniors Jay Cassady (LHP), Daniel Elliott (UTIL), and senior Justin Bowers (1B) were listed among the top players in Division III. 

The national news outlet picked conference foe Salisbury University as the top-ranked team in the preseason poll, with LaGrange, Trinity (Texas), Birmingham-Southern, and Chapman rounding out the top five. Salisbury captured 298 points in the preseason poll while CNU hauled in 203 points to earn it's spot in the top-30. 

The Captains were ranked as high as No. 15 during the year last season while recording a 27-14 overall record. CNU reached the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship Series and was selected as an at-large qualifier into the NCAA Division III National Championship. Christopher Newport advanced to the regional title game before closing out the season against No. 2 Marietta. 

Leading the way was the trio of Captains named as "Players to Watch" heading into the 2023 season. Justin Bowers earned All-America plaudits in 2022 after finishing the year with a team-high .364 average while leading the team in virtually every statistical category. He scored 40 runs, drove in 42, smacked 14 home runs, 13 doubles and two triples for 103 total bases. Hitting in the middle of the Captains' lineup, Bowers delivered 13 multi-hit perfromances and a team-best 12 multi-RBI games. 

Bowers shattered the program record slugging percentage (.851) and OPS (1.334). He also ranked third in program history with a .532 on-base percentage. 

Second baseman and relief pitcher Daniel Elliott joined Bowers on the All-Region squad in 2022 as one of the top Captains both offensively and on the mound. The switch hitter ranked second on the team with a .336 average in 36 starts while adding a 4-0 record with 8 saves and a 2.20 ERA anchoring the bullpen. 

Elliott was a tough out for opposing pitchers, logging seven multi-hit games in his first 13 appearances, including a 4-for-5 effort against Roanoke with 5 RBI. He struck out only 14 times compared to 17 walks. While difficult to strikeout himself, he consistently made opponents go down on strikes with a 15.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio, ranking fourth nationally.

Finally, junior southpaw Jay Cassady was an All-Region player as a freshman and led the rotation last year with six victories and 95 strikeouts in 69.0 innings pitched. In just two seasons on the mound for the Captains, he ranks 16th all-time in career strikeouts with 145; his 2022 campaign ranks seventh most in program history. 

Cassady has also been a factor offensively, with a .314 career batting average. He has 22 career extra-base hits including five home runs and 14 doubles while slugging .535 for his career. 

The Captains will open action with seven straight home games starting on Wednesday, February 15. CNU hosts Eastern Mennonite at 2:00 p.m. in the season opener at Captains Field. 

Original source can be found here