NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport baseball team earned a 9-6 win over Hampden-Sydney College on Wednesday afternoon on a crisp, windy afternoon at Captains Park. CNU improved to 16-11 after scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth to deny the Tigers (12-14) a come-from-behind rally attempt. 

The Captains got a quality start from senior Jackson Baird as he held Hampden-Sydney to just one run over six innings on four hits allowed. Baird struck out five and surrendered his only run in the fourth after CNU had established a 3-0 lead. The Captains built the lead to 6-1 before a five-run frame by the Tigers in the top of the seventh tied the game up and put pressure back on the CNU offense to win the game in the eighth. 

In the bottom of the first, Jake Benedict and Sam Benedict each reached on singles to lead things off for the Captains. Josh Reinhold laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up but ended up reaching on an error to load the bases ahead of Aaron Maxie in the cleanup spot. The Captains' leading run producer then picked up another RBI when he was drilled on a 1-0 pitch to bring in the first run of the game. Two batters later, Justin Liakos delivered an RBI single through the right side to chase in the second run, and Reinhold ended up trotting in on a sacrifice fly by Lincoln Lubsen. 

The 3-0 lead would hold until the top of the fourth when the Tigers followed a similar path with back-to-back singles leading off the inning and a sacrifice bunt moving them up. Baird nearly wriggled out of the jam unscathed when he snared a heatseaker up the middle with a gloveside snag. The runners had to freeze, but with two outs, a wild pitch allowed the first Hampden-Sydney runner to scamper to the plate. Baird then rallied for an inning-ending punchout to limit the damage and hold onto a 3-1 lead. 

That's where the score would hold until the bottom of the sixth when CNU doubled it's score with another three-run inning. Liakos led off with a walk and Lubsen sacrificed him into scoring position. After Scott Crosson walked on four pitches, rookie John Blanco came in and was able to sneak a hard groundball through the hole up the middle for an RBI single as Liakos raced into home for the run. Jake Benedict then followed with an RBI single into left field and Sam Benedict chased in the third run with an RBI groundball to second base. 

The 6-1 advantage would not hold, though, as Hampden-Sydney got to the CNU bullpen with five runs on four hits in the seventh inning to tie the game. A nice defensive play by Lubsen ended a chance at the go-ahead run coming in when he chased down a foul ball up against the netting behind the plate and hauled in the third out of the inning, stranding a pair of H-SC runners. 

In the bottom of the eighth with the score still tied at six runs apiece, the Captains found the game-winning runs with aggressive baserunning and advantageous miscues by the Tigers defense. An error allowed Lubsen to reach to lead off the inning and the senior catcher advanced to second when Crosson sacrificed him over. After a flyball out moved Lubsen up to third, the Captains faced two outs with the go-ahead run 90 feet from the plate. The Tigers chose to intentionally walk Jake Benedict, the first of his career, but an error on a pickoff allowed Lubsen to score. After Sam Benedict was hit by a pitch, he and his brother stole second and third to put two more runners in scoring position. Both would sprint home on wild pitches to help strengthen the CNU lead and the Captains led, 9-6, needing just three outs to seal the win. 

Eli Novario came on in the top of the ninth to close the door and earned his first career save. He struck out the first batter he faced on four pitches and then got a foul out pop-up by the next batter. The Tigers got one  runner on with a walk, but Novario locked in again and slammed the door with his second strikeout of the day for the third and final out. 

Chase Hustead (2-3) earned the win in relief ahead of Novario's save. He pitched 1.2 innings and allowed one run for the Captains bullpen. 

Offensively, Jake Benedict finished the day 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI while adding a walk and three stolen bases. Six different players registered at least one RBI while Sam Benedict also scored twice with a stolen base. Liakos was 2-for-3 with a walk, 1 run, and 1 RBI. Crosson delivered the lone extra-base hit of the game for CNU with a double in two official at-bats as he also had one walk and one sacrifice bunt. 

Christopher Newport will return to action this weekend as they play host to the 7th-ranked Salisbury University Sea Gulls in Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference action. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 5.