NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Logging the finest performance of his young career, freshman Logan Adams blasted two home runs and drove in five including a three-run walk-off home run to lift the 19th-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team over Coast Guard (2-3) in eight innings on Wednesday afternoon, 15-4. Playing on a gorgeous day at Captains Park, CNU recorded 14 hits including five for extra bases. The Captains had five multi-hit performances led by Adams' two-homer day including a two hits apiece for Jake Benedict, Cameron Slough, Jacob Koenig, and Brayden Mazzoni.

With two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Captains led 11-4 against the Bears. Slough extended the inning with a rocketed single off the third baseman's mitt and Koenig kept things going with an RBI single up the middle. That would bring up Adams, who hit four towering foul balls out of play into the left field corner during his at-bat. Working the count full and fighting off two more pitches with foul balls, Adams left no doubt with his next 3-2 swing, connecting on a mammoth blast to left field. The game was halted immediately following the blast with the 10-run mercy rule in effect. 

It was his second home run of the game after leaving the yard in the fifth inning with a two-run blast. Earlier in the game, Aaron Maxie also smashed an explosive home run to left as the left-handed batter went to the opposite field with a missile that flew the netting protecting the road beyond the wall. His homer came in the bottom of the first and kickstarted a 15-run game by the Captains. 

Coast Guard got things started early with three runs in the top of the first, but Maxie's blast got things moving in the right direction for the CNU offense. The Captains tied things up in the third and took the lead for good in the fourth. Adams' first HR was part of a three-run fifth inning that extended the lead and CNU scored twice more in the seventh before the decisive six-run eighth. 

Not just doing it with his bat, Adams also had a defensive highlight in the top of the third when Isaac Hobbs grounded down the line over the bag. Adams collected the ground ball and delivered a laser of a throw across the diamond to Maxie at first base for the final out of the inning.

In the fourth inning with the score tied at 3-3, Koenig singled to center field and moved up to second on a picture-perfect sacrifice bunt by Adams. Lukas MIller then recorded his first career base hit with a laser into right field and the Captains had runners at the corner with Mazzoni at the dish. The sophomore outfielder ripped the first pitch he saw through the hole on the left side of the infield to plate the go-ahead run. It was the second time this season Mazzoni has driven in the go-ahead run after walking off the game against Marietta earlier this season. 

On the mound, junior reliever Mitchell Mortensen (2-0) was impressive over 3.0 scoreless innings starting with the second. He faced just one batter more than the minimum with a two-out single allowed in the fourth, and stranded the runner with a fly ball to center field. In the second and third, he kept the ball on the infield with four groundballs, a strikeout, and one foul out to first base. 

In the bottom of the fifth, the Captains staked Mortensen to three more runs of support. Josh Reinhold singled up the middle and Maxie followed with a walk. After moving up on a fly ball, Reinhold was able to sprint in for the first run on a wild pitch. Moments later, Adams left the yard with his two-run home run. 

Coast Guard scratched another run across in the sixth inning, and threatened again in the seventh but another standout defensive play erased the run-scoring opportunity. After a single and a groundball out moved the runner up to second, the next Bears batter launched a high fly ball to left center field. J. Benedict tracked the ball a long way through the warning track and made a tough, highlight-reel snag while colliding with the wall. As the momentum spun him around, the Coast Guard runner tagged up and tried to score from second. Benedict rifled the ball back into the infield where his brother, Sam Benedict, collected the relay and fired to the plate with a bullet that Slough caught and slid for the tag to complete the double play.

After the momentum swung back in favor of the Captains, CNU scored twice in the seventh to build the lead to 9-4. Maxie walked and scored on a long run around the bases when Slough tripled into the right field corner. Koenig then delivered an RBI groundout to plate Slough. 

The final inning saw CNU score six runs on five hits. The Benedict brothers roped back-to-back singles and Creston Saunders followed with a hit-by-pitch to load the bases for Maxie. Continuing a stellar day at the plate, Maxie lifted a sacrifice fly to deep right center to allow the first runner to score. A wild pitch plated another run and Koenig's RBI single two batters later made it 12-4 ahead of Adams momentous winner. 

The Captains' bullpen combined for seven innings with just one unearned run allowed in the game. After Mortensen's clean three, sophomore Jackson Chappell worked 1.2 innings with three strikeouts. Cam Comins came on with two outs and two runners on in the sixth and punched out the only batter he faced in the inning to end the threat. Then, Alex Shelkin finished out the strong relief performance with three K's over 2.0 scoreless innings of work. 

Maxie was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, a home run, and a stolen base in the game. Adams finished 2-for-4 with 5 RBI, 2 runs scored, and a sacrifice bunt. Koenig added a 2-for-5 showing with two RBI and two runs scored while Slough extended his season-opening on-base streak to 15 games with a 2-for-5 performance with an RBI and two runs scored. 

Christopher Newport was scheduled to travel to Hampden-Sydney on Thursday but the game has been postponed. The Captains will next return to action on Friday at 3:00 p.m. against Wittenberg University to open a three-game series against the Tigers. The doubleheader on Saturday will begin at 11:00 a.m. with Medina14 Day scheduled for the 2:00 p.m. matchup.