MONTCLAIR, N.J. -- Locked in another pitcher's duel on Saturday, the Christopher Newport baseball team came up just short against the host Red Hawks of Montclair State University (13-6) in a 3-2 final. The Captains fall to 12-10 after the setback.
Christopher Newport surrendered just five hits over eight innings of work on the mound and struck out seven batters, but single runs in the second, fifth, and seventh innings were enough to hold off the Captains. CNU led off the scoring with a run in the top of the second and tied the game up in the top of the seventh before the Red Hawks answered with the winning run.
On the mound, senior
Jackson Baird (1-2) handled the bulk of the action for Christopher Newport with seven innings pitched. He scattered five hits and gave up three earned runs with six strikeouts and two walks.
Marcus Dux came on in the eighth and struck out one in a scoreless inning of relief to round out the pitching effort for the Captains.
Jake Benedict led things off for the Captains with a base hit and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by
Sam Benedict. It was his 20th career sacrifice bunt and moved him into the top five all-time at CNU as he is now tied with Chris Glidewell (1999-02) for fifth most. In just three seasons, Benedict trails the all-time leader, Conner Clark, by just 11 sacs. Unfortunately, after a
Josh Reinhold walk, the inning ended with a double play and the Captains went scoreless in the first.
The second inning started with another baserunner as
Justin Liakos reached on a throwing error and advanced to second on the miscue.
Ayden Stuffel then moved him to third with a single through the left side to put runners at the corners. With
Lincoln Lubsen at the dish, Stuffel got caught in a rundown between first and second and the ensuing pickle gave Liakos enough time to sprint home for the games first run.
The lead would not last as Baird gave up a solo home run to Montclair State to lead off the second inning that tied the game. The blast was followed by three innings of dominance from Baird as he retired the next nine batters in a row. Of the nine outs, four went down on strikes as the veteran starter kept the Captains in the game.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Red Hawks teetered in front for the first time with a leadoff doubled followed by an RBI single up the middle. Baird responded again, closing out the fifth and pitching through the sixth inning unscathed with another punchout.
CNU briefly tied the game at 2 runs apiece in the top of the seventh when
Cameron Slough reached on a two-out single through the left side. The base hit brought up
Jake Benedict, who launched a deep fly to center field that caromed off the wall for an RBI double. It was his third hit of the game and the team's leading hitter continued his standout season with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate.
Unfortunately for the Captains, Montclair State manufactured another run in the bottom half of the same inning to re-take the one-run lead, 3-2. A leadoff walk moved up on a sacrifice bunt and another 90 feet on a groundball to the right side. With two outs, the Red Hawks singled in the go-ahead run before Baird could close out the inning with another groundball out.
Christopher Newport rapped eight hits in the game from six different batters including Benedicts three-hit day. Reinhold added a single to go with his first-inning walk.
CNU will look to bounce back on Sunday with a 2:00 p.m. matchup against Lesley University to wrap up the three-game weekend. Live stats and live video will be available online.
