GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Closing out the team's trip to First National Bank Field, home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers, for the 2025 D3 Showcase, the 11th-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team dropped a 7-1 decision to No. 15 Cortland (2-1) on Sunday afternoon. The Captains fell to 4-3 on the season despite holding the Red Dragons to just five hits.
Jackson Baird (0-1) got the start and worked into the fifth inning before exiting with five runs allowed, three earned. He struck out seven batters in the outing including four painting the corners on backwards K's.
The CNU offense got on the board first with a run in the opening inning, but it would prove all the offense the Captains could muster against a tough Cortland pitching staff.
Jake Benedict opened the first inning with a single up the middle on the first pitch he saw and then promptly moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by
Sam Benedict.
Josh Reinhold lobbed a single into right field but Benedict was held at third to bring up
Aaron Maxie with two on and one out. Maxie grounded the ball toward the hole at short and beat the relay to avoid an inning-ending double play and score the first run.
Cameron Slough led off the second inning with a walk, but then Cortland starter Nick Jessen retired 13 in a row to keep CNU off the basepaths. On the other side, the Red Dragons scored three in the fourth and two more in the fifth to get some breathing room. Baird was rolling without a hit allowed through the first three and a third, but on back-to-back pitches, the game changed. Adam Mieczkowski plated the first run with a double to deep center field and on the first pitch he saw, Dylan Tierney launched a two-run home run over the wall in left.
Baird rebounded to close out the inning down just 3-1, inducing a flyball out and picking up his seventh strikeout of the day, but Cortland got to him again in the fifth. Taking advantage of a pair of walks and an error, the Red Dragons chased Baird from the game and brought on reliever
Ryan Morrison. The sophomore lefty quickly struck out the first batter he fraced and then finished the inning with a runner caught stealing.
It would prove to be enough offense for Cortland as Christopher Newport managed just one more hit in the game. Reinhold picked up his second of the day with a single to left field in the sixth to finish 2-for-3.
The Captains will next travel to Bridgewater College on Wednesday, February 26 for a 3:00 p.m. start against the Eagles. CNU will then travel to Myrtle Beach for the team's Spring Break trip where they will take on Manchester, Saint Elizabeth, and Neumann from March 1-3.
