NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- An historical season for the Christopher Newport baseball team came to a close on Saturday afternoon following a 4-3 loss to Misericordia University (35-11) in the NCAA Newport News Regional as the Cougars closed out a 3-0 series win.

The Captains wrapped up their season with a 35-10 overall record, tying for the third most wins in a season and closed out the exceptional careers of 12 seniors that littered the CNU lineup. The final game for six record-breaking players in the Captains' starting lineup was played on a beautiful, hot day at Captains Park in front of a postseason crowd of just under 300 fans. 

With the win, Misericordia will advance to the first ever NCAA Division III Super Regional round, taking on the winner of the Salisbury, MD Regional. 

The 2019 season saw the Captains win the 800th game in program history, including the 500th career victory under head coach John Harvell. CNU shattered a bevy of institutional offensive records along the way, including the highest team slugging percentage (.554) and on-base percentage (.460) while scoring the most runs in program history (525). The Captains lead the nation in scoring with 11.7 runs per game and blistered a program record 75 home runs over the course of the year. 

That dangerous offense was held at bay for the majority of the weekend against Misericordia, as the MAC Freedom champs consistently wiggled out of jams with the Captains on the basepaths. CNU stranded 30 baserunners in the three-game set, including 12 during Saturday's clinching victory. The Captains were held to seven hits or fewer for just the eighth time this season. 

Leading Christopher Newport's effort on Saturday was sophomore right-handed pitcher Nathan Clements, who dazzled through the first five shutout innings against a Misericordia offense who had scored 22 runs on Friday. Clements put together one of the finest outings of his career as he blanked the Cougars into the sixth inning. He struck out three and allowed just one hit. That base hiit, a soft single by Cougars lead off man Kenny Jarema, was erased two pitches later when Clements induced an inning-ending double play. Misericordia called a hit and run, but a liner to second base by Parker Abate allowed CNU senior Joseph Cutchins to end the top of the third with the double play. 

CNU gave their sophomore starter a 2-run lead in the bottom of the fifth courtesy of a big blast by Nick DiNapoli. After Seth Woodard walked to lead off the inning, DiNapoli laced a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall to get the Captains on the board first. With his 13th home run of the season, the senior shortstop became just the fifth player in program history with as many long balls in a single season. 

Clements retired the first batter in the top of the sixth before a walk that would bring on reliever Brian Owens. Shane Hughes took the first pitch he saw from Owens and lifted a lazy double just over the outstretched hands of Trey Hicks in right field, putting two on in scoring position with one out. Billy Kerwien tied the game with a two-run single down the line and the Cougars took the lead on a pair of RBI hit-by-pitches. The second would be the deciding run, as CNU could only scratch one more run across before the end of the game. 

In the bottom of the sixth, that run would come in loud fashion off the bat of Seth Woodard, as the senior third baseman hit a monster blast over the left field wall for the team's 75th roundtripper of the season. It was Woodard's 24th career home run in just two years as a member of the Captains, tied for fourth all-time. For the game, Woodard was 2-for-3 with a walk and scored two of CNU's four runs. 

Woodard concluded his tenure at CNU with a .517 on-base percentage in 337 at-bats. That mark obliterates the previous program record by 50 percentage points, besting Rob Robinson's .467 which has stood since 2000. He walked a program record 59 times this season, which ranks tied for 10th in Division III history. In two seasons, Woodard finished second in career walks with 95 free passes, trailing only Keith Windle's 128 walks from 1998-01. 

In the 38-year history of the baseball program at Christopher Newport, no player had a better on-base percentage than Ryan Grubbs, who posted only the sixth Division III season over .600 since 2008. He finished the year reaching base at a .607 clip, besting the program record set in 1991 by Tab Pabst at .543. 

After the four-run sixth inning, Owens was lights out for the Captains, retiring 11 straight batters to close out his final appearance of the year. Owens and Clements combined to allow just three hits in the game while striking out five and allowing two earned runs. 

Misericordia got the win out of Taylor Price (3-0) in relief while Kyle Melahn picked up his eighth save of the year. Melahn appeared in all three regional games for the Cougars. 

The Captains, ranked No. 1 in the final D3baseball.com Top 25, conclude their season in the NCAA Regional Round for the second straight year. CNU has reached the NCAA Tournament ten times in program history. 

Press Conference