ASHLAND, Va. -- In a battle of bullpens as both teams prepare for conference tournament appearances this weekend, the 23rd-ranked Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets got the better of second-ranked Christopher Newport in Wednesday's regular season finale to split the 2019 series. The Captains (30-6) fell by a final count of 8-2 as the Yellow Jackets improved to 23-8-1. 

Fourteen different pitchers appeared in the contest as Christopher Newport employed six arms and R-MC threw eight different players in the game. Matt Nickles (3-3) earned the win after starting and tossing the first two innings while Kyle Darmstead (4-1) suffered the loss for CNU. 

The Yellow Jackets scored six runs in the first two innings to take an early lead on the Captains and it would prove enough as the bullpens both did a strong job shutting down the opposing offenses. CNU scored one run in the top of the second and another in the top of the third, but could not muster any more scoring plays the remainder of the game. 

First, against Nickles, senior Jordan Mason led things off with a strong at-bat that resulted in a single into right field after fouling off multiple pitches. He advanced to second on a smashed groundball to the third baseman that ricocheted off the Yellow Jackets defender, but Trey Hicks was thrown out on a nice follow-up play despite the hard-hit ball. Ryan Grubbs then fell behind 0-2 in the next at-bat, but rallied in another long at-bat against Nickles before smoking a single into right center to plate Mason for the team's first run. His RBI single would knot the game at 1-1 for a short period before Macon scored five times in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead. 

In the third, senior Seth Woodard led off with a shot into right center that he read off the bat as a double and hustled into second base to beat the throw. Senior Nick DiNapoli followed with a hard-hit single through the left side that would plate Woodard and cap the game's scoring for CNU. 

The dangerous Captains offense was held to just four hits after the third inning and were outhit for just the seventh time this season. It was also just the fourth time this season the Captains were held to three or fewer runs. Woodard finished with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a walk while Jordan Mason also added a 3-for-4 performance with a run scored. 

In other action on the day, the Southern Virginia University Knights split with Frostburg State, meaning the University of Mary Washington clinched the #5-seed and a trip to Newport News for this week's CAC Tournament pod. The #2-seeded Captains will host #3 York (Pa.) and #5 Mary Washington starting Friday for postseason action. The neutral site game between the Spartans and Eagles will kick things off at 9:00 am with three games scheduled at Captains Park tentatively for 9:00 am, 12:30 pm, and 4:00 pm.