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HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. – After a four-and-a-half hour delay before the start of the game, the No. 4 Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets held off the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team in regional play at Ting Park on Saturday, dropping the Captains, 4-3. CNU will return to action in an elimination game late tonight, facing the winner of game 8 between TCNJ and LaGrange.
 
The Yellow Jackets (34-7-1) handed CNU it's first loss of the South Regional as the Captains fall to 34-11 overall this season.
 
Despite several standout individual performances, Randolph-Macon managed to answer the Captains bid to upset the top-seeded Yellow Jackets. Starting for the first time this season due to an injury to Brandon Ginch, CNU junior John Anderson was 2-for-3 with a walk and a double. Senior catcher Brandon Walker added a game-tying two-run blast in the fifth inning for his first round-tripper of the season, and the pitching staff limited the dangerous Randolph-Macon offense to just five hits in the game.
 
The Captains pitching staff, led by rookie Josh Husby, kept the Yellow Jackets off balance and allowed the third fewest hits in a game this season by one of the nation's leading units.  It was the second fewest in a game in over a month as the Yellow Jackets averaged over 11 hits per game coming into the contest.
 
Husby gave up two runs, one earned, in the bottom of the first before settling in over the next four innings to keep the Captains in the game. In the rookie's first career postseason start, he struck out a pair of batters and allowed just three hits in 5.0 innings of work. He finished with three runs allowed, two earned.
 
In the top of the fifth inning, the Captains pulled even with the Yellow Jackets when Walker smashed the home run to right field. The blast came just one at-bat after Nick DiNapoli doubled to make sure the senior catcher represented the game-tying run.
 
Then, in the top of the sixth, Anderson kick-started the go-ahead frame for CNU with a one-out walk, and advanced to second on a groundball out. Craig Johnson then stepped up and delivered a deep laser to the gap in right center field for a go-ahead RBI double.
 
The lead wouldn't last, however, as Randolph-Macon's Reece Yeargin delivered a two-run blast to left field in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull back ahead, 4-3. That score would hold up as the final as the team's bullpens battled over the last three innings of action.
 
CNU sophomore Brian Owens made his nation-leading 30^th  appearance of the season over the final two frames to hold onto the one-run deficit. He struck out a pair and allowed just one hit while facing seven batters in the two clean innings.
 
On the other side, seniors Christian Cok and Cody Thompson worked the final three innings. Thompson picked up the save, his fourth of the season.
 
The Captains will look to shake off the loss, which was the third straight game delayed by the weather, with a turnaround game later tonight. The South Regional has scheduled Game 9, the final elimination game, for 9:00 pm, but fans should stay tuned to @CNUathletics on Twitter for the most recent updates.