NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport offense kept rolling on Saturday afternoon, exploding for 17 runs on 14 hits to cruise past Ithaca College (0-2) in non-conference action, 17-1. The Captains (7-0) also got a stellar performance on the mound by senior Blake Ream (1-0), baffling the Bombers for six innings, striking out seven and allowing just two hits.

CNU won its seventh straight game to start the season, marking the best start in the 16 seasons under head coach John Harvell, and matching 1995 for the best start in program history. 

Ream was on top of his game from the start, getting through the first four innings without allowing a hit. He struck out one batter in each the second, third and fourth innings, and induced a pair of double-plays in the first four innings. In the fifth, Sam Little registered the first Ithaca hit of the afternoon when he singled to left to lead off the inning. Ream wasn't phased, however, getting a ground ball and striking out back-to-back hitters to get out of the inning clean. 

Carrying a big lead into his final inning of work, the senior right-hander from Yorktown, Va. started the sixth with two more strikeouts, and finished the inning off two batters later with a groundout. Ream finished with just two hits allowed over 6.0 shutout innings, striking out seven batters. 

In support of their senior arm, the Captains offense got started early and raced out to a big lead. The first batter of the game, junior A.J. Nicely, pounded a solo home run over the left field wall to put the Captains up, 1-0. After a single by Craig Johnson and a walk from Brandon Ginch, the Captains then got a 2-run double into left field by Connor Henderson, capping a strong opening inning by the CNU offense as they took a 3-0 lead. 

In the second, the roster turned over and CNU would chase Ithaca starter, Brandon Diorio (0-1), before he could retire a batter. Brandon Walker and Austin Henry led off the inning with back-to-back walks, before an RBI single by Nicely got things started. After a walk by Johnson loaded the bases, senior Tommy Vitaletti was hit by a pitch to pick up an RBI and force the pitching change. Keith Roberts added an RBI single and Henderson grounded into a fielder's choice to plate the fourth run of the inning, putting CNU on top, 7-0. 

The offense continued to roll, as CNU tacked on three more in the bottom of the fourth inning. Henderson added another RBI hit, plating his fourth run of the game with a bases loaded single into left field. Next up, senior Kyle Corwin would walk to score a run and Walker delivered a sacrifice fly to get CNU into double digits, 10-0. Leading off the fifth inning, Nicely continued his strong performance with a double to right field, and would score two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Vitaletti. As Harvell started to empty his bench, rookie Alex Abbey stepped in and delivered a back-breaking bases-clearing triple. 

In relief of Ream, rookie Austin Slough pitched a clean 7th and 8th inning. Little led off the 7th with a double as he finished the day leading Ithaca with two hits, but he was stranded as Slough picked up back-to-back grounders and a lineout back up the middle. The CNU bench tacked on three more runs in the bottom half of the 7th, as Josh Moore and Collin Lawless each picked up RBI doubles, followed by an RBI single from sophomore Carter Biringer. Slough walked the first batter of the 8th, but got a double-play and strikeout to face the minimum in the inning. 

Finishing up a dominating performance, rookie Jackson Galvin took over in the ninth and worked through a small spark in the Bombers offense. Ithaca loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch before pinch hitter Josh Uliano delivered an RBI groundout. The run-scoring grounder eliminated the possibility of a shutout for the CNU pitching staff, but Galvin promptly recorded a game-ending double play to finish out a 17-1 victory. 

For the day, the six hole in the CNU lineup delivered 7 RBI as Henderson finished 2-for-4 with 4 RBI with Abbey's 1-for-2 with 3 RBI tacked on. Nicely finished 3-for-4 with 3 runs and 2 RBI, while Vitaletti added his fourth multi-hit game of the season, going 2-for-3 with 2 RBI and a run scored. 

The Captains will return to the field on Sunday, putting their perfect 7-0 record on the line against Susquehanna University (1-1) at 1:00 pm. The Captains and Crusaders played on Friday, with CNU capturing a dramatic walk-off victory on an error by Susquehanna. Live stats will be available at CNUsports.com/live.