NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Prior to a 3:00 p.m. first pitch against Methodist, the Christopher Newport baseball team moved up in both the ABCA Coaches' and the D3baseball.com Polls. After moving up to No. 16 in the ABCA rankings and No. 19 in the D3baseball.com Top 25, the Captains won their fifth straight with a 5-1 win against the Monarchs on Tuesday afternoon.
The CNU pitching staff put together an electric combined effort with seven pitchers combining to hold Methodist to just one run on five hits. Junior
Mitchell Mortensen (3-0) picked up the win with two strikeouts after three innings of work before giving way to
Cam Comins,
Jackson Chappell, and
Peter Hoenig in order. After Hoenig it was
Dylan Blazer,
Marcus Dux, and
Alex Shelkin out of the pen.
While the pitching staff kept the Monarchs off balance, the offense scored three runs in the third and two in the bottom of the sixth.
Sam Benedict led the way going 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored, and an RBI;
Cameron Slough added a 2-for-3 performance with a run and
Logan Adams drove in two for the Captains.
Methodist, which fell to 8-13 after the loss, struck first with a run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the third. Christopher Newport answered right back with the top of the lineup coming up in the bottom half.
Jake Benedict walked on four pitches and S. Benedict followed with a laser into left center field to put two in scoring position for Slough. The junior backstop walked to load the bases and Adams stepped in to deliver a two-run single up the middle to take the lead. Moments later,
Brayden Mazzoni drove in another run with a groundball to the left side, plating Slough.
With a 3-1 lead, the Captains turned to Comins in the fourth and Chappell in the fifth. Comins struck out the first batter he faced and Slough caught a baserunner stealing for the second out. After working ahead of the next batter, Comins finished the inning with a flyball to center. In the fifth, Chappell sandwiched a pair of punchouts with another baserunner retired by a rocket from Slough's right arm.
Hoenig pitched the sixth, making his first appearance since February 14. He celebrated the big day with a 13-pitch inning including a pair of pop flies and one groundball to the right side. Continuing the strong pitching performance in the seventh inning, fellow senior
Dylan Blazer came on to work himself out of a jam after retiring the first two batters. He struck out the first batter and got a groundball to third before a walk, single, and walk loaded the bases. Facing trouble, the veteran calmed the threat with his second punchout to finish the frame.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Captains tacked on two more runs when J. Benedict doubled down the right field line to lead things off. S. Benedict ripped a single into center field to plate his brother and moved up to third on Slough's second hit of the day. The final run came in on a wild pitch when S. Benedict was able to sprint home for the score.
Marcus Dux started the eighth inning on the mound and struck out one batter and induced a flyball out. As the lineup turned over,
Alex Shelkin was called on to finish the final out of the eighth and close the game out in the ninth. He stranded four runners in the two innings and recorded one strike out.
J. Benedict recorded his team-leading tenth double of the season while S. Benedict also had a double in the game.
Gus Croll also went 1-for-3 with a walk.
With the win, Christopher Newport improves to 16-5 overall this season with five straight wins. CNU will return to action with a trip to No. 10 Bridgewater College (18-3) on Wednesday after the Eagles earned an 11-5 win against No. 6 Shenandoah on Tuesday. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
