Box Score
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Nick Santalucia fired a seven-inning gem and capitalized on an early two-run single by
Kyle Corwin to lead the Christopher Newport baseball team past Southern Virginia, 3-1, on a breezy Thursday afternoon at Captains Park.
Santalucia needed little help as the senior southpaw struck out a career-high nine batters while scattering five hits and just a single unearned run over seven innings on the hill. Corwin provided all of the necessary run support with two hits and a pair of RBI, and
Tommy Kane also drove in an insurance run in the eighth to cap off the victory.
With the win, the Captains moved back to .500 on the season with an 8-8 mark. Southern Virginia is now 1-9.
From the outset, Christopher Newport took control. After Santalucia twirled a perfect inning in the top of the first, his offense went to work in the bottom half. During the rally,
A.J. Nicely kicked things off after reaching on an error before
Justin Weaver and
Travis Younger loaded the bases with a pair of walks. With two down, Corwin landed the big blow after dropping a floater into center that chased in two and gave the squad an early 2-0 lead.
Southern Virginia attempted to respond in the top of the second, but Santalucia and his defense worked out of a jam. Although the Captain ace struck out a pair, the Knights eventually loaded the bags with two outs. Looking for redemption, SVU's Mitch Mantle drilled a bullet down the first base line, but Weaver made a leaping snag to halt the rally.
After that point, Santalucia settled in and mowed down the opposition. He allowed just a two-out single in the third, struck out three in the fourth, and worked out of a minor jam in the fifth with another strikeout and a nice play on a comebacker to the mound. Later, after a perfect inning in the sixth, he overcame some shaky defense to keep the lead.
During the top of the seventh, a pair of errors by the Captains led to Southern Virginia's first run. Later, with a runner on first and no outs, the defense made amends. The Knights attempted a sacrifice bunt, but Corwin came charging in from his perch at third base. After fielding it cleanly, he fired a rope to
Billy Steel at second, who made a textbook turn to complete the double play and help CNU escape with a 2-1 lead.
The next inning, after
Kyle Goddard worked a scoreless eighth in relief, CNU tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the frame. With one out,
Jacob Houston pounded a dart down the right field line, which he quickly stretched into a triple. Two batters later, Kane lined a single up the middle to chase in Houston and give the hosts a little breathing room.
Although the ninth got a little scary as a pair of Knights reached with back-to-back two-out singles,
Bryan Bierlein slammed the door shut with a strikeout to seal the 3-1 victory.
With his work, Bierlein earned his second save of the season, while Santalucia picked up the victory and improved to 3-0 on the year. Colin Bigelow took the loss for Southern Virginia despite striking out nine and allowing just five hits and two unearned runs.
Christopher Newport will return to action on Saturday when the squad hosts Wesley in a Capital Athletic Conference doubleheader beginning at noon.
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