ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team dropped its second in a row on Wednesday afternoon after North Carolina Wesleyan jumped out to an early lead and held on against the Captains for a 10-6 setback. Rookies Luke Baker and Tommy Blackburn pitched 5.2 innings of one run relief and the Captains registered 12 base hits in the game but ultimately suffered the loss to drop the team's overall record to 23-11. 

The Captains struck first with a run in the top of the first but the home team scrambled for ten runs over the first five innings. CNU cut into the lead with two runs in each the sixth and seventh frames, while tacking on one more in the eighth. 

Eight of the nine spots in the lineup registered at least one hit in the game for the Captains as they piled up 12 base hits. Junior Gus Croll went 3-for-4, continuing his hot streak at the plate with his fourth straight multi-hit game. He has elevated his season average 56 points in that stretch while going 10-for-17 (.588) with a pair of walks and two extra-base hits. In addition to Croll's hot bat, Sam Benedict and Aaron Maxie each continued to see the ball well with a pair of hits each. Maxie has a hit in eight straight games while Benedict has logged a base knock in 13 of the last 14 games and 24 of his 27 appearances in 2026. 

Against the Battling Bishops, the Captains scratched across one run in the top of the first to take an early lead. Josh Reinhold represented the early run before the Bishops countered with one in the first and nine more runs before the end of the fifth inning to take a 10-1 lead. 

The Captains were not without chances in the first half of the game, getting multiple runners on base in the third and fourth innings. Reinhold and Maxie each singled in the third before Croll and Logan Adams added base hits in the fourth. Benedict added another base hit with one out in the fifth, but all five were stranded on the base paths. 

CNU finally broke through again in the top of the sixth when Croll reached on an infield single and Adams walked. With two outs, sophomore Ashton Hylton delivered a two-run single into left field to plate the pair and trim the lead to seven, 10-3. Two more came in during the top of the seventh when Benedict singled and raced home on an RBI double by Maxie before Cameron Slough walked and Croll added an RBI double of his own. 

Blackburn came on to start the sixth and quickly kept the Captains within striking distance. He retired the side in order in the sixth including a strikeout looking. In the seventh, he worked around a leadoff walk with two more punchouts and a fly ball to left. Then, finishing out a strong three-inning relief appearance, he went 1-2-3 in the eighth on five pitches. 

In the top half of the eighth, the Captains got another run when Reinhold delivered an RBI sacriifice bunt to plate Jake Benedict, who had reached on an infield single. It would be all the offense could muster, though, with outs waning and just one inning left to score. 

Ryan Morrison (3-2) suffered the loss on the hill after pitching into the fourth inning before giving way to Baker. The freshman then allowed one run on four hits in 1.2 innings of relief before Blackburn finished out the final three frames. 

Christopher Newport will look to bounce back quickly with a home game on the docket for Thursday, April 23 as the Captains host Hampden-Sydney College at 3:00 p.m.