NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Finishing off a season-opening series sweep, the nationally-ranked Captains were led by Benedict brothers, Jake and Sam, in an 8-7 victory over Messiah University (0-3) on Saturday morning as the twins capped an outstanding weekend with three more hits and three runs combined. Christopher Newport improved to 3-0 after answer a pair of game-tying innings from Messiah and earned a one-run win at home.
After a pair of multi-hit games on Friday,
Jake Benedict added a third straight multi-hit performance from the leadoff spot as he finished Saturday's game 2-for-5. Hitting behind his brother,
Sam Benedict was 1-for-3 with a sacrifice fly and a pair of runs scored. Also highlighting the offensive production was junior
Ayden Stuffel with a two-run home run in the bottom of the third inning.
The Captains jumped out in front with a two-run first inning that started with
Jake Benedict lacing a single up the middle followed by
Sam Benedict and Jake Reinhold earning walks to load the bases.
Aaron Maxie put a charge into a fly ball but it stayed in the park and the sophomore settled for a sacrifice fly. Two batters later,
Grant Hartman grounded to the left side and the ball was mishandled to allow the second run.
After the Falcons scratched one run across in the third on a wild pitch, the Captains built a 5-1 lead with three runs in the third.
Sam Benedict started things off with a single through the right side of the infield and advanced to third on another miscue by the Messiah defense. For the second time in as many plate appearances, Maxie delivered a run-scoring flyout with his second sacrifice fly of the day. That would bring up Stuffel with a runner on first and the left-handed outfielder jumped on the first pitch he saw with a high-arcing drive down the right field line. Stuffel notched his third career home run with a two-run shot over the wall on Saturday.
On the mound, senior
Jackson Baird started for the first time since May 20, 2023 after missing his entire junior season with an injury. In his first year with CNU, Baird started 11 games and struck out 65 batters in 54.2 innings pitched while holding opponents to a .199 average. This season, he started off with a strong start by holding Messiah without a hit over the first four innings. In the fifth, the veteran right-hander allowed an inning-opening walk and gave up his first hit to get into a little trouble. Unfazed, Baird retired the next batter on a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners up, and then leaned on the defensive expertise of
Sam Benedict at third with the infield drawn in. For the second day in a row, Benedict made a nice play to hold the runner at third on a hard shot to the left side.
With two outs, Baird looked poised to get out of the jam unscathed but a groundball glanced off of his leg and into no-man's land to allow a run to score on an infield single. From there, Baird induced an inning-ending foul out and finished out his 5.0 innings pitched with just two runs on two hits allowed. He struck out two and walked three in the game.
Messiah would score three runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game up, 5-5, and force the Captains to respond. david Martinez had the big blow with a two-run single into left field and Dustin Isanogle added an RBI HBP earlier in the inning.
Responding quickly, Christopher Newport got a one-out single from
Will Pellegrino in the bottom half and
Gavin Spencer came on to pinch run.
Justin Liakos reached on a hit-by-pitch and brought
Jake Benedict back to the plate with two on and one out. Benedict singled to center field on the first pitch he saw and drove in a run, advancing to second on the throw. With a couple of runners in scoring position,
Sam Benedict sent a deep fly ball into the left field foul territory and was able to plate another run on the sacrifice fly. CNU teetered back in front, 7-5, with the two-run inning.
But the Falcons answered right back, scoring two runs on one hit in the top of the seventh. Taking advantage of a pair of free passes to start the inning, Dylan Beard singled home the first run and the second came in on a slow grounder to first base, tying the game up again.
Nate Toomey escaped any further damage with an inning-ending fly out, but the Captains were forced to answer again.
In the very next half inning, the Captains scored the eventual game-winning run. Taking advantage of a pair of Messiah errors, the Captains were able to scratch across the go-ahead score with
Cameron Slough at the plate. With a runner at second base, Slough put the ball in play on a slow roller to third and sprinted up the first-base line. He forced a bad throw and the error allowed
Jacob Koenig to come around to score from second base for what would prove to be the game-winning tally.
In the eighth,
Eli Novario pitched a clean inning with just one hit allowed, working through trouble with a walk and thre fly outs. Then, in a save situation in the top of the ninth, the Captains called on senior
Christian Williams for his first opportunity of the season. He recorded the first out on just a single pitch with a groundball to third. Then, after a walk, he struck out a batter for the second out and finished out the game with a lazy pop to second base.
The CNU pitching staff gave up just five hits in the game while striking out six.
Nate Toomey (1-0) picked up his first career win in relief. Offensively, CNU scored eight runs on seven hits.
Christopher Newport will return to action on Tuesday, February 18 at 2:00 p.m. CNU will take on Bridgewater College with live stats and a live video webcast available at CNUsports.com.
