NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Christopher Newport scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally against Bridgewater College (0-1) for a 6-4 win at Captains Park on Tuesday afternoon. In addition to the late-inning theatrics, the CNU pitching staff combined to strike out 15 batters as eight different arms appeared against the Eagles while being led by three scoreless frames from sophomore Ryan Morrison (1-0). 

Morrison struck out four of the 11 batters he faced in the middle innings before giving way to a trio of bullpen arms who slammed the door in victory for the Captains. Eli Novario, Colin D'Arcy, and Christian Williams retired the last six batters including a 1-2-3 ninth from Williams for his second save of the year. Morrison earned the win for his first of the year and second career victory. 

Cooper Newell, the C2C Pitcher of the Week, struck out three in the first to kickstart an impressive showing from the CNU pitching staff. Newcomer Chase Hustead took the second inning and kept the Eagles off the board before Marcus Dux struck out two in his inning of work in the third. Rookie Charlie Gunn added three K's of his own in the fourth before Morrison took over in the fifth inning. 

Offensively, CNU got on the board in the bottom of the third inning when Jake Benedict led things off with a double down the line in left field. Sam Benedict moved him up with a groundball to the right side and then, with two outs, Aaron Maxie laced a single off the pitcher to plate the first run of the day. 

The Captains trailed, 4-1, after three and a half innings before scratching across two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Justin Liakos led off with a walk, fouling away three pitches before earning the free pass. Designated hitter Zach Dzarnowski then followed with a run-scoring double into the corner to bring up the Benedict twins again. First, Jake singled into right field and stole second to put two in scoring position for his brother, Sam. Lifting a fly ball to deep right field, Benedict added an RBI with a sacrifice fly, but the Captains could not find the game-tying hit in the inning. 

It wasn't until the seventh when CNU finally completed the come-from-behind effort. Josh Reinhold led off with a double that just snuck inside the right field line and moved up on a perfectly-placed bunt by Maxie. An errant throw allowed Reinhold to race home with a run that evened the score, 4-4. After a sacrifice bunt by Cameron Slough put runners at second and third, the Captains got the big blow from Justin Liakos with a two-run single into left field. 

With the lead, the bullpen took care of the rest. Novario struck out the first batter he faced and then gave way to D'Arcy with a runner on. The senior nearly got out of it with a double play on a sensational play up the middle as Reinhold dove to smother the groundball and flipped it to Liakos at second. The transfer to first was clean, but the batter-runner beat out the play by a half step. Still, D'Arcy was unfazed and closed out the eighth with a groundball out to the right side. 

In the ninth, Williams wasted no time closing out the victory with a flyball out to left before punching out the next two batters for a clean 1-2-3 inning. 

Jake Benedict finished the day 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles to lead the way; Aaron Maxie, Ayden Stuffel, and Justin Liakos each added two-hit days for CNU. 

The Captains will return to action at the D3 Showcase in Greensboro, N.C. this weekend. CNU is scheduled to face No. 4 Denison at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 22 before taking on Marietta College at 2:00 p.m. On Sunday, February 23 the Captains will face No. 19 Cortland to close out the North Carolina trip.