NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- After two pitches in the bottom of the first, the Captains had a 2-0 lead and never looked back on Saturday afternoon as Christopher Newport (2-1) defeated Virginia Wesleyan (0-5) in the 2021 Captains Park home opener, 8-2.
Conner Clark led off by lacing a single over the shortstop and
Jonathan Fisher followed, attacking the first pitch he saw and launching a towering two-run shot to left center field for his first career home run.
While not quite all the Captains would need to win the game, the early onslaught set the tone for the offense which would go on to hammer 11 hits including three for extra bases. CNU scored one in the third, two more in the fourth, and rounded out the scoring with three in the bottom of the sixth.
With the victory, Christopher Newport improved to 2-1 on the season and has now won four straight home openers. In the 21 seasons under head coach
John Harvell, the Captains are 18-3 in the first home game of the season.
As the Captains attacked the Virginia Wesleyan pitching staff, sophomore
Dylan Weber (1-0) pieced together a marvelous showing on the mound. Through the first four innings, Weber had tossed just 44 pitches with four strikeouts. That included an impressive first inning that saw the lefty strike out the side while featuring a tough breaking ball that continued to fool Marlins hitters throughout the day.
Weber got through the first five frames with just two hits allowed before running into some trouble in the sixth frame. The first two batters reached before Weber nearly wriggled out of the jam with a nice assist from right fielder
Alec Reilly, rocketing home to get the first out of the inning, and a groundball to second for the second. However, back-to-back extra-base hits from the Marlins would end Weber's day with a strong line of 5.2 innings pitched, 5 hits allowed, 6 strikeouts, and 2 earned runs.
Nathan Clements came on in relief and escaped any further damage in the sixth inning while also cruising through the sixth. He tossed 1.1 innings of scoreless relief with three strikeouts. Coming on to help close out the win was
Gray Goodrich (1.0 IP, 1 SO) and
Jack Rosenberg (1.0 IP, 3 SO).
Offensively, the Captains got on the board early with the two-run homer from Fisher and then the second year-shortstop gave Weber all he needed with a sacrifice fly in the third inning as well.
Ethan Weaver ripped a double down the left field line and moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Clark. Fisher then delivered with a deep fly ball and Weaver raced home for the run.
In the fourth inning,
Daniel Elliott kickstarted a two-run inning with a flared single into right field.
Michael Martorano then stepped in and smashed a double into left field to plate the first run of the inning.
Jay Cassady then delivered an RBI single into right center to score the second.
With two outs in the sixth, the Captains rallied for three more runs to round out the scoring in the contest. Cassady singled to put runners on the corners for Weaver, who delivered an RBI single to plate Martorano for his second run. After both runners moved up on a wild pitch, Clark then delivered a single into center field to chase home two more runs.
The Captains and Marlins will return to the same field at the same time on Sunday to wrap a two-game series this weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm. No spectators will be permitted for Sunday's contest, but a live video webcast and live stats will be available at CNUsports.com.
