ASHLAND, Va. -- Eight of the nine starters collected at least one hit and Dylan Weber struck out nine over six strong innings of work, but the 16th-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team suffered a 6-5 setback on the road Thursday afternoon, falling at 14th-ranked Randolph-Macon College. The Captains' overall record slips to 17-5 while the Yellow Jackets improved to 12-2. 

Macon struck first, collecting four runs, two earned, in the bottom of the third inning to take an early lead. The Captains rallied to take a 5-4 lead with three runs in the top of the fourth and two more in the top of the seventh, but single runs in the bottom of the seventh and eighth proved the difference for the home team. 

Weber worked efficiently through most of his outing aside from the hiccup in the third that saw Macon take advantage of a pair of CNU miscues to score four runs. His offense backed him up in the next half-inning though, led by the middle of the linup. 

Zach Dzarnowski continued his hot streak at the dish with a one-out single into left field and the sophomore catcher moved up to third on a single by Justin Bowers. Rookie Jake Benedict then slammed a double into left field to plate the Captains' first run. With Bowers moving up to third, Alec Reilly drove in another run with a sacrifice fly deep to left, cutting the lead to 4-2. Two pitches later, Sam Benedict drove in his brother with a single into left field, trimming the lead to one, 4-3. 

Weber cruised through the fourth after the run support, striking out one and inducing a pair of infield pop-ups. He kept rolling on the hill with four more strikeouts over the next two innings to keep the Captains in the game. He was rewarded in the top of the seventh Christopher Newport took the lead with two runs on a pair of hits and one Randolph-Macon error. 

Scott Crosson led off with a single to left field and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jake Reinholds. Dzarnowski worked himself into a hitters count and then found the gap with a line drive to left center field to plate the game-tying run as Crosson sprinted across home plate. Bowers and Jake Benedict loaded the bases and Reilly again delivered with a deep fly ball to sacrifice himself for another run. 

The go-ahead tally briefly gave the Captains the lead, 5-4, but the home team answered in the bottom half. Macon re-tied the score with a double, sacrifice bunt, and single before David Gingras escaped without any further damage after a lineout and a strikeout. Then, in the bottom of the eighth, the Yellow Jackets scratched across one more run to take the lead heading into CNU's final at-bat. Despite two hits with Alec Reilly and Sam Benedict getting on base with two outs, the would-be rally was ended with both runners stranded. 

Reilly, Dzarnowski, Justin Liakos and Sam Benedict led the way with two hits apiece. Crosson, Reinhold, Bowers, and Jake Benedict added one hit each as CNU reached base with 12 total hits in the game. 

The Captains will close out the week at Marymount University this Saturday, March 18 at 2:00 p.m.