NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Christopher Newport got a pair of two-run home runs to rally late and tie the game at 5-5, but Bridgewater responded with a go-ahead three run blast in the top of the ninth to slip by the Captains, 8-5, in baseball action Wednesday afternoon. 

Of the 13 runs scored in the game, ten were scored via the long ball as each team left the yard twice. For the Captains, fifth-year senior Conner Clark smashed his second career round-tripper while newcomer Justin Bowers slammed his second of the season. Both were two run shots for CNU as they clawed back from a 4-0 deficit. 

Bridgewater jumped on top with a three-run home run in the top of the first inning before right-handed starter Connor Pennell got the next there batters. He worked around a bases loaded jam in the second to limit the damage to three in his two innings of work. 

The Eagles tacked on an unearned run in the third to take a 4-0 advantage on an RBI groundout. The Christopher Newport bats were kept in check despite good contact up and down the lineup as hard-hit balls were snagged by Bridgewater defenders. Bowers hammered a one-out double into left center in the second inning but was left stranded and Jay Cassady smoked a groundball the opposite way but the third baseman made a nice play. In the third inning, Scott Crosson laced a liner inside the bag at first, but the defender was there to grab the would-be RBI hit out of the air to end the inning. 

David Gingras came on in relief and Pennell and struck out five batters over three innings pitched. He allowed one unearned run on three hits while walking a pair. Danny Checkosky then stepped in for a perfect 1-2-3 sixth inning, striking out one, to keep the Captains in the ball game. 

Before Checkosky checked in, the Captains cut the Bridgewater lead in half in the bottom of the fifth. Jonathan Fisher got on with a one-out single into right center to bring up Clark. After working himself into a hitter's count, Clark unloaded on a no-doubter to right field for a two-run shot making the score 4-2. Despite another single by Crosson and a walk by Cassady, the Captains were unable to cut into the lead any more in the fifth. 

Bridgewater scored another run in the seventh to retake a three-run lead when a runner trotted home on a wild pitch. After the Eagles loaded the bases against reliever Jack Rosenberg, CNU called on rookie Kyle Lewis to get out of a tough spot. Lewis promptly struck out the first two batters he faced and stranded all three runners to keep the lead at just three heading into the final two and a half frames. 

He was rewarded by his offense in the bottom half when Kyle Schofield walked to set up the two-run dinger by Bowers. Daniel Elliott then smoked a line drive into right field and raced around the basepaths to score on an RBI double by Kevin Mackmin. The rookie drove in the game-tying run with the extra-base knock for his second double of the season. 

Scott Reid stepped to the mound for CNU in the eighth and retired the side in order with a strikeout, but ran into trouble in the top of the ninth after getting the first two hits. A pair of Bridgewater batters reached via hit batsmen and pinch hitter Collin Reid lofted a go-ahead three-run home run just over the wall in left center.

The Captains continued tried to rally for a second time in the bottom of the ninth, getting back-to-back two-out singles from Elliott and Mackmin, but could not scratch across another run for the final score, 8-5. 

With the loss, the Captains fall to 3-4 on the season while Bridgewater improved to 6-2. 

CNU will now travel to Kannapolis, N.C. for a slate of three games at Atrium Health Ballpark. The Captains will first take on Marietta on Friday, February 25 at 2:00 p.m. before also playing Keystone College and Washington and Lee University over the weekend.