NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Christopher Newport slugger
Justin Bowers smashed a pair of two-run homers and added a sacrifice fly to drive in a season-high five runs for the nationally-ranked Captains (18-6) as the home team rolled past Eastern Mennonite University on Sunday afternoon, 17-6. Bowers was one of six different CNU players with multi-hit performances against the Royals as the Captains had 19 hits including nine for extra-bases.
Bowers put the Captains ahead of Eastern Mennonite with a mammoth two-run shot in the bottom of the first and the team never looked back. He added another towering shot to right center in the bottom of the fourth to extend the Captains' lead to ten, 12-2. He now has eight of the team's 18 homers on the season and ranks in the top-20 nationally.
Eastern Mennonite took a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first inning but Bowers' first homer answered in the bottom half to kick off a run of nine unanswered runs through the first three innings. Christopher Newport would go on to score in every inning except the sixth, with multiple tallies in four frames.
Earning the win on the mound was
Connor Pennell, improving to 2-0 on the season. He tossed five innings for the Captains while striking out four and surrendering four runs. Three Captains' relievers came in after Pennell, including a two-inning stint from
Colin D'Arcy, striking out one.
Jack Anderson struck out two in a perfect eighth inning and
David Gingras closed out the game pitching the ninth.
Offensively, CNU got a pair of hits in the first inning including Bowers' bop.
Drew Caroline started the second inning with a single into right field and
Jonathan Fisher reached on a hit-by-pitch. Loading the bases,
Conner Clark laid down a perfect bunt on the third-base line to set up a sacrifice fly by
Scott Crosson.
The big bats came out in the third as CNU scored six runs on six hits.
Kevin Mackmin started things off with a one-out double before
Alec Reilly stepped in and hammered an opposite field blast into the netting beyond the left field wall. The two-run shot was his second of the season.
Caroline kept the inning going with a double into right center to chase the starting pitched. After Fisher was hit by another pitch, Clark walked to load the bases. Crosson looped a single into left field to score a run and Bowers hit another ball deep, this time to dead center field, for a sacrifice fly. With two outs and two on,
Daniel Elliott blistered a two-run double to the gap for a 9-1 lead for CNU.
The Royals scored once in the fourth, but the Captains bats kept rolling with three more in the bottom of inning. Clark delivered an RBI single to the shortstop, beating out the throw, and Bowers smashed his second round-tripper of the day to make the score 12-2 after four.
CNU would keep scoring, getting a single run in the fifth on a Mackmin sacrifice fly, and anotehr in the seventh when
Brayden Hodges sacrificed in
Michael Martorano. The Captains scored thrice more in their last at-bat as the reserves made their way around the lineup.
Joey Bouck opened the frame with a walk and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches. He then scampered home on an RBI groundout by
Gavin Spencer.
Justin Liakos then tripled in his pinch hit appearance, followed by free passes issued to
Kyle Schofield and
Ethan Weaver. With the bases loaded,
Shane Kelleher drove in a run with a fielders choice and Hodges smoked a two-out double to left field for the team's final run.
Eastern Mennonite scored twice in the top of the ninth, but any comeback attempt was thwarted by the Captains' defense when Jaylon Lee grounded into a game-ending double play. Hodges stepped on the bag at third and fired across the diamond to close out the CNU win.
Christopher Newport will take on these same Royals on Tuesday, April 5 in Harrisonburg for their next game. The Captains will return home a day later when they welcome Methodist University for a 3:00 pm game.
