NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Blasting the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for a go-ahead two run home run, junior Gus Croll turned a 1-0 deficit into a Captains lead in the top of the sixth inning on Sunday afternoon as nationally-ranked Christopher Newport came from behind to capture a 6-3 win. CNU took down Hampden-Sydney College (10-11) with two runs in the sixth and four more in the top of the seventh to earn the fourth straight win for the Captains. 

 The CNU pitching staff continued its impressive run with a four-hit effort against the Tigers. Senior Ryan Morrison surrendered just one run on one hit over four strong innings in the start and senior Chase Hustead (2-0) picked up the win with three innings of relief. Over the last two innings, Eli Novario struck out three in 1.2 innings of work, giving up one hit and one walk, while sophomore Charlie Gunn locked up his third save in as many opportunities by recording the final out. 

As a group, the Captains had seven strikeouts with four walks and four hits scattered across the nine-inning performance. The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on one of those hits with a two-out triple followed by a wild pitch. 

CNU had four hits over the first five innings including a pair of doubles from Jake Benedict and Brayden Mazzoni but trailed the hosts, 1-0, heading into the top of the sixth. The fifth hit of the day was a two-bagger from Lukas Miller to lead off. Hampden-Sydney looked primed to escape again, retiring the next two Captains, but Croll stepped in with a runner on third and two outs. The third-year outfielder turned on the first pitch and smashed a no-doubter to left to flip the scoreboard and give CNU a 2-1 lead. 

After Hustead cruised through the bottom of the sixth with a 1-2-3 inning, CNU kept the momentum going in the seventh. Stone Lasseigne led off with a walk and moved up to third on Benedict's second double of the game. Sam Benedict then drove in a run with a single into center field and J. Benedict came in to score on a wild pitch. The team's leading run producer, Cameron Slough, blistered a double to the gap to plate another run and eventually trotted home on a groundball later in the inning. 

The insurance runs proved pivotal as the Tigers scored twice on two hits in the bottom of the seventh to trim the lead to three, 6-3. Hampden-Sydney threatened again in the ninth, getting the game-tying run to the plate but Gunn needed just two pitches to end the game with a line drive to left field. 

The top four batters in the CNU lineup combined for nine hits in 20 at-bats. J. Benedict, S. Benedict, and Slough were each 2-for-5 while Miller was 3-for-4 with a walk. 

Christopher Newport will return to action on Tuesday, March 24 when they host Methodist University at 3:00 p.m.