MARIETTA, Ga. -- Christopher Newport put the finishing touches on a terrific 2022 season on Sunday afternoon, defeating Kalamazoo College, 11-5, before falling to second-ranked Marietta College, 7-2, in the NCAA Regional Championship. The Captains close the season with a 27-14 overall record after reaching the regional finals for the fifth time in ten NCAA Tournament appearances as a team. 

The 2022 campaign was riddled with impressive individual performances including a record-breaking senior season for fifth-year outfielder Conner Clark. Over the course of his final season, Clark became the all-time leader in hits, games played, games started, sacrifice bunts, and at-bats. With a run scored against Kalamazoo, the lead-off man became just the second player in program history to score 200 runs in his career, joining Hall of Famer Matt Turner (201). 

Additionally, newcomer Justin Bowers shattered the Captains' single season record for slugging percentage with an .851 mark that ranks in the top-ten in Division III this year. Bowers also finished with a .532 on-base percentage, which ranks third all-time at CNU, and blasted his 14th home run of the year against Kalamazoo to tie Chris Phaup (2002) for the fourth most in a single year. 

Scott Crosson tied the program record for sacrifice flies and Daniel Elliott set a new standard on the mount for the fewest walks per nine with a 0.80 mark. That bests the previous record set by Bryan Bierlein in 2012 by nearly two-tenths of a walk (0.98). The CNU pitching staff registered three of the top five K/9 marks in program history led by Jay Cassady (12.39) ranking second, Elliott (12.20) in third and Dylan Weber (11.06) in fifth. Elliott tied for the third most saves (8) and Cassady logged 95 strikeouts in a single year, ranking tied for seventh all-time. 

Those individual performances all culminated in the team making it's tenth NCAA Tournament appearance and third in the last four tournaments held. Head coach John Harvell closed the year just ten wins shy of 600 and has been at the helm for all ten postseason runs. 

On Sunday, the Captains' had a tough road in front of them to try and make the Super Regional round, forced to resume a suspended game against Kalamazoo from the third inning and then try to beat Marietta twice for the title. The first half went well, as CNU added to the 3-0 lead they established the night before and finished off the Hornets, 11-5. In the regional final, though, the home team captured a 7-2 win to eliminate the Captains. 

Against Kalamazoo, Colin D'Arcy stole the show with five shutout innings in his second career start. After three frames on Saturday night, D'Arcy returned to toss two more on Sunday morning. He struck out five while putting CNU in position to win before giving way to Connor Pennell and Kyle Lewis in the sixth and a three-inning save by Danny Checkosky. 

Offensively, CNU established an 8-0 lead before Kalamazoo got on the board with two in the sixth. CNU added three in the top of the seventh to pull ahead 11-2 before three Hornets scored in the bottom half for the final verdict, 11-5. 

The Captains opened the day with a three-run burst in their first turn at the plate, highlighted by a two-run triple from Brayden Hodges. It came just one batter after Michael Martorano continued his strong game with an RBI single through the left side. With his two-RBI single in the first on Saturday night, Martorano had three RBI in his first three plate appearances.

In the top of the fifth, Jonathan Fisher led off with a single and then raced home on CNU's second RBI triple in as many innings as Clark picked up the big hit. Clark would score two batters later on a ground ball as CNU continued to add to their lead. In the seventh, Fisher keyed another rally with a double to left center. With two outs, Scott Crosson singled him in and was standing on first when Bowers obliterated a pitch well over 400 feet to dead center field. His 14th round-tripper of the season gave the Captains an 11-2 lead and all but put the game on ice. 

 In game two, which wasn't played until 5:15 due to weather in the area, the Captains were locked in a tight game against one of the best teams in baseball this season. Jack Anderson took the ball and kept the Pioneers off the board until a couple of errors allowed three runs to score in the bottom of the third. Anderson allowed a two-out single in the fourth but retired the side unscathed to keep CNU in a 3-0 game after four. 

In the top of the fifth, Fisher again was the catalyst to a run-scoring inning with a double down the right field line. In what would prove to be the final hit in his illustrious career, Conner Clark then delivered an RBI single up the middle to pull CNU within two, 3-1. 

Unfortunately for CNU fans, Marietta scored three runs in the fifth, including back-to-back home runs to lead off the inning, to increase the lead back to 6-1. Anderson was pulled for David Gingras, who did a terrific job slowing the Marietta offense over the final 3.2 innings, but the CNU offense was stymied against the Pioneer pitching staff. CNU managed just one run on two hits in the final 4.2 innings thrown by the winning pitcher. 

The second run came in the top of the ninth as CNU would not go quietly. Martorano smacked a ground-rule double over the right field wall to lead off the inning and moved up to third on a groundout to the right side. Kyle Schofield pinch hit and drove in the run with another groundball to the right side as Martorano raced home safely. 

One batter later, Marietta finished the Captains and celebrated the Regional Championship on their home field. The Pioneers improved to 41-5 with the win and will play in the Super Regional round next weekend. 

For their efforts, Christopher Newport third baseman Brayden Hodges, outfielder Michael Martorano, and pichers Colin D'Arcy and Daniel Elliott were all named to the Marietta Regional All-Tournament Team.