ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. -- The Christopher Newport baseball team raced out to a 10-2 lead after the top of the fourth inning looking poised to capture another Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference victory, but St. Mary's College of Maryland rallied for a 13-12 win over the Captains (9-5, 4-1). 

For the fourth time in the last five games, the Christopher Newport offense reached double digits in the scoring column. After plating 12 more runs on Sunday, the Captains have scored 58 in C2C action and are averaging 11.6 runs per game against the league.

Eight of nine CNU starters registered at least one hit in the game with five multi-hit performances highlighted by a 3-for-5 showing from Eric O'Brien. Alec Reilly reached base in four of his five plate appearances and scored three times with two RBI, two walks, and a hit-by-pitch. 

St. Mary's opened the scoring with a single run in the bottom of the first, but the Captains answered back with four of their own in the next half inning. Reilly and Ethan Weaver walked to put two on with two out; all four runs would come in as part of the two-out rally. First, Conner Clark reached on an error to plate the first run, and then Jonathan Fisher added a two-run single into center field. Finally, Fisher raced home on a single by O'Brien to cap the early scoring chance with a 4-1 lead. 

CNU starter Dylan Weber worked a quick second inning with a pair of strikeouts to get the Captains' offense back to the plate. In the third, Jay Cassady singled and was followed by a HBP by Reilly. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners up, Cassady sprinted home on wild pitch and Reilly scampered across the plate on an RBI single by Clark. 

The Captains scored four more in the fourth on five hits. O'Brien kicked things off with a single and was followed with a one-out single by Scott Crosson. Cassady and Reilly then produced back-to-back RBI doubles for the Captains, including a two-run shot to center field by the latter Rounding out the second four-run frame of the game was an RBI single from Matt Rhodes. 

With a 10-2 lead after four and a half innings, the Captains turned to the bullpen for the second half of the game. Weber allowed three runs in the fifth and finished his day with 5.0 innings pitched. He struck out seven and surrendered a pair of walks with five hits allowed. From there, St. Mary's methodically chipped away, scoring one in the sixth, two each in the seventh and ninth innings, and three in the bottom of the eighth. 

After the Seahawks tied the game in the bottom of the eighth, the Captains re-took the advantage in the top of the ninth in their final at-bat. With two outs, O'Brien worked a tough walk on nine pitches and then sprinted home on an RBI double by Schofield into right field. Unfortunately, the one-run lead would not hold as the home team answered with two runs on two hits in the bottom of the ninth to walk off a winner. 

Next up for CNU is three straight games against one of the top teams in Division III as they take on Coast-To-Coast Athletic foe Salisbury University. The first of three matchups against the Sea Gulls this week comes on Wednesday, April 7 at 3:00 p.m. as Captains Park welcomes in Salisbury for a conference tilt.