NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport baseball team walked off a winner in game one of a doubleheader against Penn State Harrisburg, 8-7, and then used an 11-run fourth inning to blow past the Lions in the second game, 20-6, to sweep a pair on Sunday afternoon. In a lengthy day at Captains Park, the two teams played a combined seven hours and 50 minutes as CNU improved to 12-5 overall after winning nine of their last ten contests. 

In game one, the Captains trailed by five runs heading into the bottom of the eighth inning before mounting a comeback with two in the eighth and four runs in the bottom of the ninth innning. The second game saw Christopher Newport score 20 runs on 15 hits including Justin Bowers' second home run of the day. 

In the middle of a seven-game hitting streak, Bowers has five multi-hit performances and three of his five home runs. Bowers is hitting a team-leading .468 after racking up five more hits in Sunday's twin bill, including three for extra bases. The sophomore transfer drove in seven runs and scored four times with a pair of HR and one double while adding two walks in game one. 

Penn State Harrisburg scored the first three runs of the day without a hit in the top of the first inning. The Lions scored on three straight plate appearances that ended in a walk, hit-by-pitch, and walk. Starter Jack Braley limited the damage to just three with an innind-ending groundout. He was replaced by Danny Checkosky, who whirled four strong innings of relief for the Captains to help CNU stay in the game. 

Checkosky faced the minimum his first time through the order before giving up a pair of singles in the top of the fifth inning. Unfazed, Checkosky struck out the next batter to close out the fifth with four K's and just two hits allowed. 

In the bottom half of the inning, CNU cut the lead to one, 3-2, on one of Bowers' towering home runs. With two outs, Scott Corsson singled through the left side to bring up Bowers, who deposited a 1-1 pitch onto Moores Lane beyond the left field wall. 

The Lions got one back in the sixth and seventh, and added two more insurance runs in the top half of the eighth inning to take a 7-2 advantage. The rally started with a pinch hit walk by Alec Reilly followed by a single from Brayden Hodges through the left side. Drew Caroline got a hold of one that left the yard, but the umpires ruled it was just foul and the junior backstop would have to settle for a single through the left side to load the bases. Then, Jonathan Fisher delivered an RBI single and Conner Clark plated a run on a sacrifice fly to trim the lead to three, 7-4. 

After Connor Pennell rolled through the top of the ninth inning with a 1-2-3 inning, the Captains returned to the plate needing just three to tie, four to win. Bowers led off the inning with a walk and two batters later, Kyle Schofield walked and put the tying run at the plate with one out. Reilly singled and advanced to second on the throw as Bowers raced home to score. Hodges then came up in the clutch and singled through the left side to plate pinch runner Michael Martorano and moved the tying run, Reilly, up to third base. 

It was Caroline at the dish again, and after working the count full, the veteran catcher grounded the ball to the right side and Reilly raced home to score on the ground out. Hodges moved up to third on the groundball, which proved pivotal as the Captains would win the game on a wild pitch moments later. The veteran infielder broke for the plate as soon as the ball hit the dirt and beat the play to spark the Captains' celebration. 

Bowers reached in four of his five plate appearances by going 2-for-3 with a pair of walks. He drove in two and scored twice to lead the offense while four Captains finished with two hits in the game. 

In game two, senior right-hander Thomas Wells was in control through the first 4.2 innings, striking out a career-high ten batters. Staked to a 16-0 lead, Wells ran into some trouble in the top of the fifth, giving up four runs on three hits before exiting for reliever Kyle Lewis. Lewis closed out the fifth with a strikeout and got a flyball out in the sixth before being lifted for Jack Rosenberg. The senior lefty earned the win with 1.2 innings of effective relief without surrendering a hit and striking out a pair. Wrapping up the game in the top of the eighth was Jack Anderson, striking out a pair in a perfect 1-2-3 inning before the game was called due to darkness. 

The marathon lasted four hours and ten minutes before dusk fell as the teams were headed to the bottom of the eighth. 

The run scoring started in the bottom of the second when Reilly and Martorano led off with back-to-back walks. After a flyout, Caroline singled into right field to plate the Captains' first run. A fielding errror gave CNU another run and Caroline raced home on a wild pitch for a 3-0 lead. 

In the bottom of the third, Daniel Elliott walked and moved up on a wild pitch. Reilly continued his strong day with an RBI single to center field to chase the starter from the game. Another run came in on an error and CNU led, 5-0, after three innings. 

CNU erupted for 11 runs on seven hits in the bottom of the fourth as their fifth-year senior leadoff man, Conner Clark, kicked things off with a base-hit bunt. Crosson drove in Clark with an RBI single and sprinted home on an RBI double by Bowers. Elliott singled into right center for an RBI and then the bases were loaded via a walk and hit-by-pitch against the next two batters. Another run crossed on a wild pitch and still another thanks to a Lions error. Three straight walks drove in two more and brought Bowers up with nowhere to put him in the middle of a big inning. .

Turning on the first pitch he saw, Bowers delivered a grand slam home run to put the Captains up, 16-0. CNU scored four more in the bottom of the fifth for the final tally of 20 runs as the reserves manufactured another big inning. Ethan Weaver and Gavin Spencer reached on back-to-back HBP's to bring up Shane Kelleher. He smoked a double into left center field to plate one and then two batters later, Justin Liakos plated a run with an infield single. Martorano singled up the middle for an RBI to close out the scoring on the day by CNU. 

Two runs would come around to score for Penn State Harrisburg in the top of the fifth, but 20-6 is as close as the Lions could get in the blowout victory. 

Bowers was 3-for-4 with 5 RBI and two runs scored while Elliott was the only other CNU player with a multi-hit performance. Twelve different Captains finished with at least one hit as CNU racked up 15 base knocks in the game. 

Christopher Newport will return to action this Tuesday, March 15 as they host Roanoke College at 2:00 p.m. Live stats and live video will be available at CNUsports.com.