FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- The Christopher Newport baseball team dropped a 6-2 decision on the road Saturday afternoon as the Captains (15-11) took on the Mary Washington Eagles (19-6) in Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference action.

Junior leadoff man Jake Benedict continued his tear at the plate with a 4-for-5 showing to raise his league-leading average to .431 and sophomore first baseman Aaron Maxie scored twice after going 2-for-3 at the plate. 

The Captains found themselves in a 2-0 hole after the first inning but trimmed the lead to one in the top of the second when Maxie walked to lead things off. With one out, Cameron Slough singled to move him up and Lincoln Lubsen delivered the run-scoring hit with a single into left center field. The Captains stranded a pair but had cut the lead in half. 

On the mound, Cooper Newell cruised through the second, but Mary Washington added another run in the bottom of the third to retake a two-run lead, 3-1. In the fifth, the home team made it 4-1 with a run on two hits. CNU answered in the top of the sixth when Maxie singled to center and came around to score on an RBI double by Justin Liakos. 

Unfortunately, that would be as close as the Captains would get as Mary Washington took advantage of an error and scored two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. 

The bullpen took over for Newell in the sixth when Jackson Baird came on to finish out the inning and tossed a clean seventh. In the eighth, Marcus Dux took the ball and induced a pair of groundball outs before working around a single with a flyball out to end the inning. 

CNU threatened in the top half of the ninth inning with a two-out rally. Jacob Koenig singled to center field and Benedict added another single to put two on with two out. A wild pitch moved the runners up and Sam Benedict loaded the bases with a walk. With the game-tying run at the plate, Mary Washington managed to snuff out the comeback bid with a groundball to close out the win. 

Christopher Newport will return to action on Wednesday, April 2 against Hampden-Sydney College. The Captains will host the Tigers with first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m.