NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Taking on the University of Hartford at Captains Park on Friday for a twin bill, the 12th-ranked CNU baseball team earned a come-from-behind win in game one, 8-6, before dropping game two, 10-3 to split the doubleheader. The Captains fall to 9-5 on the season while the Hawks are now 4-3. 

Senior infielder Doc Daniels played the hero in game one, scoring the game-tying run in the seventh and finishing the opener 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored. He also added the insurance run in the bottom of the eighth for the final margin, 8-6. 

On the mound, newcomer Cooper Newell overcame some early signs of struggle in the start and finished six strong innings with 10 strikeouts. He allowed two runs on five scattered hits and finished his outing strong with four straight strikeouts to punctuate the effort. 

The CNU offense put him in position to win the game with a five-run fifth inning to take a 5-2 lead. Rookie John Blanco singled through the right side and moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Justin Liakos. Catcher Will Pellegrino singled into left and then Jake Benedict walked on four pitches to load the bases. That brought up Daniels with an RBI opportunity and the veteran pounded a double off the wall in right center field, chasing all three runs in for CNU. Aaron Maxie walked with two outs and brought up one of the hottest bats in the CNU lineup, Cameron Slough. 

The sophomore, serving as the designated hitter in game one, continued his string of games with an extra-base hit with an RBI double down the left field line. Both runners scored to give the Captains a 5-2 lead. Slough has now pelted six extra-base hits in four games while hitting .412 (7-17) with 13 RBI. 

Hartford answered back with four runs in the top of the seventh to re-take the lead, 6-5, but CNU responded by immediately re-taking the lead with two in the bottom half. Daniels walked to lead off the inning and moved up when Andrew Hearn bunted him over. Maxie walked again and Gus Croll loaded the bases with a two-out walk.  Daniels then scored on a wild pitch and the Captains added another run when Liakos was drilled to advance Maxie into home with the eventual game-winning run. 

CNU finished the scoring in the eighth with an insurance run after Daniels singled with one out. He advanced to second on an error and two more free passes, a walk and hit-by-pitch, loaded the bases again. With Croll at the plate again, he worked a walk after falling behind 1-2 in the count by taking three straight pitches out of the zone. That walk chased in Daniels for the eighth and final run of the game. 

On the mound, Colin D'Arcy (1-0) earned the win in relief with one strikeout. Eli Novario pitched a perfect eighth inning with one punchout and Christian Williams had a dominant ninth inning showing for his fourth save of the year, striking out the side in order. Williams needed just 12 pitches to turn away the 4-5-6 batters in the Hartford lineup with two strikeouts swinging and the final out down looking. 

Game two, the Captains' offense struggled to get going with just three runs on six hits. CNU scored one run in the third when Liakos led off with a walk and Blanco singled into center field to move him up to third. Jake Benedict delivered a sacrifice fly to right field to plate the first run of the game for CNU. 

In the sixth, Daniels keyed another rally by starting off the inning with a single into left field. Maxie walked and Lincoln Lubsen pounded a double down the left field line to drive in a run. Slough added another RBI with a groundball out to short, plating Maxie to close out the Captains' run production in game two.Slough also had a double in the game but no CNU player recorded more than one hit in the game. 

On the mound, Chase Hustead (1-2) started for CNU and pitched into the sixth inning where he ran into some trouble. After limiting the Hawks to just three runs on eight hits over the first five frames, Hustead surrendered four more on four hits in the sixth. Before being relieved in the sixth by Connor Godshalk, the CNU junior piled up eight strikeouts paired with just one walk. 

Godshalk recorded two outs before giving way to Marcus Dux, who tossed 1.2 scoreless innings with just one hit allowed. Jackson Gimbel pitched the ninth to close out the CNU effort on the mound. 

Christopher Newport will return to action on Saturday as they face nationally-ranked Penn State Harrisburg at approximately 1:00 p.m. The game will be the second of two for the Lions, who will face Hartford in the opening game at Captains Park on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.