NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Sophomore outfielder Alec Reilly reached base in seven of his nine plate appearances to help lead an offense that scored 23 runs in two wins on Friday as the second-seeded Christopher Newport baseball team eliminated #4 St. Mary's and downed #3 Mary Washington. In the Captains first game of the day, they won, 9-6, against St. Mary's to end the Seahawks bid at a conference championship before returning to the field for a marathon 3.5 hour game against the Eagles, winning 14-8. 

Christopher Newport will return to the home field on Saturday to host Mary Washington again in the double-elimination format in the opening weekend action. Mary Washington defeated St. Mary's in the tournament opener, 10-9. The winning team in the Newport News pod will advance to next weekend's championship series to face either top-seeded Salisbury or fifth-seeded Southern Virginia, who are currently playing a best-of-three series in the other C2C Tournament pod at Salisbury. 

Over the course of the two games, the Captains launched three home runs and blistered another five doubles. Alec Reilly had one of each in the first game, going 3-for-3 with a pair of walks, two RBI and three runs scored. He also tacked on a 2-for-3 showing in the nightcap, adding a sacrifice fly, another two runs batted in and one run scored. 

The second game also featured a bit of history as senior outfielder Conner Clark swiped his 91st career base to set the program record for career stolen bases. He past Brian Gunn, who set the record in 1997 and hasn't been threatened since. The record-breaking steal came as part of a double-steal in the sixth inning against Mary Washington on his 100th career stolen base attempt. Clark is the Division III active leader in career thefts and ranks sixth among all NCAA players from Division I, II, or III. The stolen base capped an overall impressive performance at the plate for the Captains' center fielder, who was 5-for-9 with 4 RBI and a run scored. 

Before the record-setting performance in the second half of the twin bill, Clark helped the Captains get by St. Mary's in a nailbiter, 9-6. The Captains took an early lead, 2-0, before the Seahawks responded to teeter in front, 5-4, and ultimately tie the game back at 6 after six innings. The bottom of the 7th saw CNU score three times to capture the lead for good as the bullpen slammed the door. 

Entering the game in the top half of the seventh inning, rookie Matt Gaither (3-1) retired the side in order on 12 pitches. He struck out the first two batters he faced and got a weak groundball right back to the mound for the quick inning. That would send the bats to the plate against a new pitcher for the Seahawks. With two outs, sophomore Ethan Weaver delivered the would-be game-winning blow with an RBI single into center field. Two batters later, Clark picked up an insurance run with a bases loaded walk, and one more would race home on a wild pitch. 

Gaither returned for the eighth and quickly worked through another frame after a leadoff single. He struck out one and faced the minimum courtesy of a pickoff at first base. With a three-run lead, CNU called on sophomore closer Jack Rosenberg to pick up his third save of the season. He walked the leadoff batter before punching out three straight to end the game. 

Reilly and Clark each registered three-hit performances to lead the offense, including Reilly's second big fly of the season. 

An eight-run fifth frame would do in the Eagles in the second game as CNU built a 14-2 advantage after six innings. The Eagles would add a crooked number with six in the eighth, but the Captains would allow them to get no closer in pulling off their second win of the day. 

Rookie Jay Cassady kicked off the scoring with a missile over the right field wall in his first at-bat. His rookie record 14-game hit streak was snapped in the first game, but he wasted little time getting back in the hit column with his fourth round-tripper of the season. 

Mary Washington took a brief 2-1 advantage in the third before the Captains grabbed the lead for good in the fourth. Kyle Schofield led off with a screaming line drive into the corner for a double. Reilly then delivered a one-out RBI single and was able to jog the rest of the way around the bases when Michael Martorano hit a no-doubter to left field two pitches later. In his first start since April 3, Martorano made the most of his opportunity by going 3-for-5 with 3 runs scored and the two RBI on his two-run dinger. With Martorano putting the Captains ahead, 4-2, the team added one more run on an RBI single by Clark. 

Then came the big inning. CNU batted around in the fifth and plated eight runs on four hits with three errors committed. The first three batters reached before a deep sacrifice fly from Reilly scored Eric O'Brien; then, another run scored on a wild pitch and an infield single and a walk loaded the bases again. Brayden Hodges picked up an RBI free pass and Clark added another sacrifice fly. That was followed by another walk, this time by Jonathan Fisher, and a two-run single by O'Brien. After coming on to pinch run earlier in the inning, rookie Daniel Elliott then stepped in for his first at-bat of the game and laced a two-out two-run double to cap the scoring. 

Hodges added another RBI single in the sixth to round out the scoring for CNU while Gray Goodrich, Jack Anderson, and Carter Strain combined to throw the last three innings. Goodrich was terrific, striking out a pair while allowing just one hit in the seventh. Strain also struck out three in 1.2 innings of work. 

Dylan Weber (6-2) earned the win after going six innings in the start for the Captains. He struck out five and walked three while allowing two runs in the contest.

The Captains and Eagles will return to the field for an 11:00 a.m. on Saturday; if the Captains win, they will advance to the championship series, but if the Eagles knock off CNU, the two will play another game immediately after with the winner moving on to next weekend. 

Live stats and a live video webcast will be available at CNUsports.com.