NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Taking on third-ranked Salisbury University for the first of three times this week, the Christopher Newport baseball team rallied to score four runs in the bottom of the ninth but could not quite complete the comeback as the Sea Gulls escaped with a 7-5 win. The Captains fell to 9-6 overall, 4-2 in conference play while Salisbury improved to 11-1, 5-0.
The Christopher Newport pitching staff slowed one of the nation's most torrid offensive units as the Sea Gulls came in having scored 60 runs in their previous four games. Freshman starter
Jay Cassady (0-2) worked his way in and out of trouble multiple times before Salisbury scored two in the fifth to chase the Captains' rookie.
Matt Gaither came on in the sixth and worked brilliantly against the red-hot Sea Gulls bats, striking out three over 2.2 scoreless innings of relief.
Salisbury scored the first run on a solo home run by Justin Meekins and manufactured one in the fourth and two more in the fifth, but the Captains pitching staff kept the offense in contention down just 4-1 through eight frames. Unfortunately, the Sea Gulls scored three more in the top of the ninth to extend the lead to 7-1 and the insurance runs proved costly for the Captains, whose comeback fell short by just a pair.
The Captains scored all five runs in the final two frames, continuing a season-long trend that has seen the team score 37 runs in the seventh inning or later. Against the Salisbury bullpen, the Captains opened the final frame with a single through the left side by
Keegan Doyle and a walk by
Matt Rhodes. After a fielder's choice,
Conner Clark stepped in and wore a pitch to load the bases. The leading run producers for the Captains were striding to the plate and did their jobs as
Jonathan Fisher singled hom the first run and
Eric O'Brien lifted a sacrifice fly into right field. Then, capping a strong overall performance at the plate,
Kyle Schofield slammed a hard line drive into left field for a single that go by the outfielder and chased two runs home, making the score 7-5. The rally would end there, though, with Schofield stranded on the bases and the tying run at the plate.
Schofield finished the day 2-for-4 with an RBI and O'Brien delivered 2 RBI for the Captains.
Alec Reilly, who smashed a rocket into the right center field wall for a double, also had two hits in four at-bats. Fisher, who had five assists defensively at shortstop, finished his day with a 2-for-4 showing, a walk, RBI and run scored.
The Captains did a solid job defensively, especially in limiting the dangerous Salisbury run game. Four outs were made on the basepaths by the visiting team including three runners caught stealing.
Ethan Weaver, at second base, also made the play of the game defensively when he retired Meekins on a would-be two-run double flared down the right field line. With runners at second and third, Weaver sprinted from his spot at second all the way to the right field line to make a highlight-reel defensive play. His over the shoulder one-handed snag ended the fourth inning with just one run allowed, stranding two in scoring position.
Christopher Newport and Salisbury will play twice more this weekend as the Captains travel to Maryland for the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference matchup. The next matchup will be played Friday, April 9 at 3:30 p.m.
