NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Pitting two of the top teams in Division III against each other on Senior Day at Captains Park, the matchup between 12th-ranked Salisbury University and 13th-ranked Christopher Newport gave fans all they could ask for in a spectacular pitchers' duel. The visiting Sea Gulls squeaked by the host Captains, 2-1, to even the season series at one win apiece and drop Christopher Newport's overall record to 23-13.
Jackson Baird (4-4) and
Mitchell Mortensen combined to hold one of the top offensive units in the country to just two runs on seven hits. Baird worked the first five innings, allowing two runs on six hits with seven strikeouts before giving the ball to Mortensen to start the sixth. The junior lefty then mowed down the Sea Gulls for the final four innings, keeping Christopher Newport within striking distance by facing just two batters over the minimum with four strikeouts and only one hit allowed.
On the other side, Salisbury starter Aidan Brinsfield (7-3) tossed the first seven frames before three Sea Gull relievers closed out the final two innings. Bryce Sterling picked up his league-leading eighth save with a clean ninth inning.
Baird kept Salisbury off the board until the fourth when the Sea Gulls scratched across a single run. They doubled the lead with an imperative insurance run in the fifth before CNU got on the board in the bottom of the seventh, trimming the lead back to one, 2-1. Neither team mustered anything in the final two innings and that remained the final verdict.
After Baird allowed a lead-off infield single in the top of the first, he locked in and retired nine of the next ten batters with five strikeouts. At the plate, the Captains rapped three hits against Brinsfield in the bottom of the first when
Aaron Maxie,
Cameron Slough, and
Gus Croll delivered back-to-back-to-back singles. The Salisbury starter wiggled out of the jam, though, and left the bases loaded in the early threat.
CNU had base runners in all but one inning, but the Sea Gulls pitching staff was able to strand the Captains on base. In the sixth inning, rookie
Logan Adams reached on a one-out double into left field and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Salisbury escaped in the sixth but the Captains finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh.
With one out,
Donovan Newell laced a line drive into center field for a base hit. He then got a great read on a dirt ball from the pitcher and sprinted to second base on the wild pitch. After a key groundball out by Reinhold moved Newell up 90 feet, he was able to race home on a soft infield single by Maxie for the Captains' lone run of the game.
Mortensen took over in the sixth and was nearly unhittable for four frames against the Salisbury lineup. He sat the first six down, including three strikeouts, and worked around a HBP and an infield single to strand a pair in the eighth. Clinging to a 2-1 lead, Salisbury faced Mortensen one more time in the ninth, but the junior southpaw kept the Captains within one with a 1-2-3 final frame.
CNU attempted to mount a pair of two-out rallies in the final two innings. In the eighth, pinch hitter
Ashton Hylton delivered a single and moved up to second when
Creston Saunders walked. After they failed to score, Maxie added another two-out base hit in the ninth by beating out a single to the pitcher. Unfortunately for CNU fans, the Sea Gulls ended the threat and closed out the victory.
The Captains out-hit Salisbury, 8-7, and the pitching staff recorded 11 strikeouts compared to 10 by the Sea Gulls arms.
Maxie finished the day 3-for-5 with an RBI while Salisbury was led by Nathan Tondreault, also 3-for-5.
CNU will return to action on Tuesday, April 28 at No. 2 Lynchburg with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
