MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- The nationally-ranked Captains scored in all but one inning and smacked 23 hits, tied for the third most in a single game in program history, en route to a 17-5 win over Penn State Berks on Thursday afternoon. Christopher Newport improved to 12-4 overall while the Nittany Lions slipped to 4-3 this season after eight different CNU players registered multi-hit performances. 

The offensive outburst was led by Seth Woodard, who extended his season-opening hit streak to 16 games with a 3-for-4 performance with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. Sophomore shortstop Nick DiNapoli reached in all four of his at-bats, going 3-for-3 with a walk, while reserves Eric O'Brien and John Anderson also were perfect in the box, going 2-for-2. 

The 23 hits is the most in a game since 2002 when the Captains hit as many against Shenandoah on April 3, 2002. The team record is 26 hits against Castleton State (4/1/97) and the second most hits in a game was 24 against St. Andrew's (4/6/85). 

Woodard got the Captains on the board first with an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning, plating Jordan Mason who reached on a single and stole second base. CNU was shut out in the second inning, but would go on to score 16 runs over the next six innings to blow past Penn State-Berks. 

Another single run came through in the third when Woodard doubled and raced home on an RBI single from Nicholas Baham. The Captains then broke open the game with a 5-run fourth to take a 7-0 lead. DiNapoli led off with a double and scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly by Austin Henry. WIth two outs, the lineup turned over with three straight singles from Mason, Conner Clark, and Woodard. Senior DH Brandon Ginch then delivered a double to left field, and Baham drove in a pair with a single to cap the big inning. 

In the next half inning, rookie starter Gray Goodrich got a popup, walked a batter, and induced an inning-ending double play to finish out his 5-inning start. Goodrich got a pair of double plays and struck out seven batters in his five shutout innings of work. He scattered five hits and walked one without giving up a run. 

The hits kept coming in the final three innings for CNU as Mason doubled home a run in the bottom of the sixth during his final at-bat. From there, CNU went to the bench and the reserves had a strong performance. In the seventh, Andrew Suppa walked and sprinted home on a pinch-hit RBI double from John Anderson. Anderson would later add another RBI double and is now 4-for-8 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored this season. Eric O'Brien added an RBI double while Brandon Walker and J.T. Bellotti each had sacrifice flies in the eighth. 

On the mound, CNU ran into trouble only once, when the Lions scored five runs in the top of the 8th. Jaret West tossed a scoreless sixth with one strikeout, followed by the 7th by Ryan Powell, who also had one K. Finishing out the win, Corey Williams tossed 1.1 innings with just one hit allowed. 

Chase Endy suffered the loss for Penn State-Berk, giving up 13 of CNU's 23 hits in the first 4.0 innings of work. The Lions had 12 hits against Christopher Newport pitching, including four multi-hit performances. Damian Mace was the leader with a 2-for-4 effort on Thursday. 

Christopher Newport will next travel to Harrisonburg, Va. on Tuesday, March 13 at 3:00 pm to take on the Royals of Eastern Mennonite University. CNU will be looking to avenge one of it's four losses this season as the Royals earned a 5-4 win in Newport News on February 27.