DEMOREST, Ga. -- Christopher Newport smacked ten hits in a 7-2 loss to Cal Lutheran (6-1) on day two of the Piedmont Early Spring Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The Captains fell to 0-2 with the setback.
CNU had runners on in all but one inning, but struggled to bring anyone around to score until a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth. Rookie
Kevin Mackmin was responsible for those two as the freshman third baseman stepped in and blistered a two-run single on the first collegiate pitch he saw.
Colby Shriner (0-1) took the mound for Christopher Newport and worked through three innings of scoreless pitching before Cal Lutheran struck through in the top of the fourth. Shriner exited with two on in the fourth and the Kingsmen pushed both runs across with a stolen base and sacrifice fly.
The Captains' offense looked comfortable against Cal Lutheran starter Chris Torres, including back-to-back singles to start the game. Senior lead-off man
Conner Clark opened the game with a picture-perfect bunt down the third base line for a base hit without a throw and
Daniel Elliott added a single up the middle one batter later. Unfortunately, Torres worked out of the jam with a pair of groundouts and a caught stealing.
In the second inning,
Scott Crosson ripped a single into center field and
Drew Caroline added a single later in the inning, but again the Captains stranded a pair. Elliott added his second hit of the game with a rip into left field in the third.
After falling behind, 2-0, CNU got a leadoff single by
Alec Reilly in the bottom of the fourth and
Brayden Hodges reached on a hit-by-pitch. Reilly moved up to third on a stolen base but Torres again kept the Captains off the board.
Cal Lutheran added two runs in the fifth before tacking on one in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings. CNU finally got on the board in the eighth when
Kyle Schofield singled and moved up on a one-out bunt single by Crosson. That would bring up the pinch hitter in Mackmin, who turned on the first career pitch he's seen for a two-run single.
In the top of the ninth, junior
Connor Pennell had the best inning on the mound for the Captains, striking out the side in order. He first struck out Jalen Parks on four pitches, Kyle Reuser on a 2-2 count, and Nick Fusari on four pitches.
Offensively, Crosson continued his hot start at the plate, going 2-for-4 and is now 5-for-8 through the first two games. Clark's two-hit performance ran his hit streak to 13 games and he passed John Corbin for ninth on the all-time hits list at CNU with 192 career base knocks.
The Captains will return to action on Sunday, February 13 as they take on No. 7 Birmingham-Southern in a neutral site battle at Noon. The two teams will return to Loudermilk Stadium in the finale of the Piedmont Early Spring Tournament with live stats and live video available online.
