NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Tossing the first nine-inning complete game for the Captains since 2024, senior right-handed starter Cooper Newell struck out five and held the Regent University Royals to just four hits in a 4-1 win in front of a lively crowd at Captains Park on a sparkling Spring afternoon. Newell improved to 5-0 this season while lifting Christopher Newport to 21-9 while Regent suffered the loss and fell to even at 15-15 overall this season. 

Newell's complete game effort is the first nine-inning complete game for the Captains since May 4, 2024 when legend Dylan Weber struck out 14 batters in a 6-1 win against 5th-ranked Salisbury. 

It was the first ever matchup between Christopher Newport and the first-year program from Regent University. The Royals are members of the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference and making the transition to NCAA Division III. For head coach John Harvell, Regent represents the 106th different program he has won against in his 26 seasons at the helm, piling up nearly 700 victories. 

The Captains jumped out to an early lead with single runs in the first, second, and third innings to build a 3-0 advantage. Regent scratched across one in the top of the fourth, but CNU got it back in the bottom of the fifth for the final verdict, 4-1. 

In the bottom of the first inning, Jake Benedict walked and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by rookie Jake Mutter. After a groundball bumped Benedict up another 90 feet to third base, the senior leadoff man came in to score his team-leading 39th run on an RBI single by Cameron Slough. Slough added to his team-leading RBI total with his 29th of the season. 

The lead doubled in the second with a two-out rally started by a walk from Stone LAsseigne. Benedict singled into right field to advance Lasseigne to third and Mutter, hitting in the two hole for the first time in his career, ripped a single through the left side to plate another run. In the third, Slough walked and moved up on an error and wild pitch. Lukas Miller drove in the run with a deep fly ball to center field for a sacrifice fly and the Captains lead was 3-0. 

After Regent scored in the top of the fourth, Newell caught fire on the mound and was unhittable the rest of the game. Over the final five innings, the senior from Chesapeake, Va. faced just one batter over the minimum and retired 15 of 16 to close out the win. His impressive performance saw him retire the side in order in the 5th, 6th, 8th, and 9th innings, including back-to-back punchouts to end the outing. In the bottom of the ninth, he got a fly ball to left center field before striking out the next two batters. The final abtter of the game fought off four pitches foul before swinging through Newell's final offering on a 3-2 pitch in the 10th pitch of the at-bat. 

For the outing, Newell gave up four hits and three walks while striking out five. He faced just 35 batters in the complete game victory while improving to 5-0 on the season. 

Five different CNU players logged base hits in the game including a double by Josh Reinhold while Slough led the attack going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. 

Christopher Newport will return to the diamond on Wednesday, April 15 as the Captains road trip to Roanoke College for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch against the Maroons. CNU will then return home to take on this same Regent squad on Thursday, April 16 at 3:00 p.m.