Christopher Newport University

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Snapping a four-game skid with a 5-4 win over Marymount University (23-16) on Friday afternoon, the nationally-ranked Christopher Newport baseball Captains improved to 24-13 overall this season behind a dominant relief appearance by senior Dylan Blazer.

The right-handed reliever from Virginia Beach came in with the score tied 4-4 and tossed three perfect innings to earn his first career win as the Captains scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth. Fellow senior, Sam Benedict, picked up the momentous RBI after a lengthy at-bat with two outs in the eighth, lifting Christopher Newport to the late lead. 

The Captains took a 4-0 lead after five innings but Marymount tied the game with four runs in the top of the sixth to set up the dramatic finish by the CNU veterans. 

In the final regular season home game at Captains Park, senior right-hander Cooper Newell took the ball for his 10th start of the season. The veteran starter was stellar over the first five innings, scattering three hits with four strikeouts. In the sixth, Newell ran into trouble as the Saints loaded the bases with nobody out and then allowed a run on a balk. After an RBI single trimmed the lead to 4-2, Newell picked up a big out with an infield pop-up. The Saints then ran a squeeze play that loaded the bases again and added a sacrifice fly and a game-tying single into right field before the Captains escaped the threat with a nice defensive play on a double steal attempt. 

The damage was done, however, and the four-run lead evaporated heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. CNU had built the lead with two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth inning. In the fourth, Josh Reinhold and Aaron Maxie walked and moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Cameron Slough. Gus Croll then blistered a single up the middle to plate the first two runs of the game. In the fifth, it was Croll again with an RBI double to center field just moments after Slough had plated a run with a sacrifice fly to left. 

With a new ball game in the final third, the Captains called on Blazer out of the pen. Putting together one of the most spectacular pitching appearances of his career, the senior retired the side in order in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. He quickly worked ahead of one of the top lead-off men in the country, Quincy Via, and induced a foul out to first on an 0-2 pitch. Then, on another 0-2 pitch, got a groundball to short where Reinhold recovered from a tough hop and rifled a throw across the diamond for the second out. The third batter he faced worked the count full before the hitter swung through a blazing fastball for the final out of the inning. 

In the eighth, Blazer needed just eight pitches to sit down the Saints with a pair of fly balls and another groundball to short. Then came the game-winning bottom half for the Captains. 

CNU called on sophomore pinch hitter Ashton Hylton to lead off the inning and he promptly singled up the middle. Looking to manufacture the potential game-winning run, the Captains called for Donovan Newell to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but he fell behind in the count, 0-2. With the risk of striking out squarely on his shoulder, the bunt was still on and Newell laid down a perfect sacrifice toward third base and moved Hylton into scoring position. Jake Benedict then added a productive out, grounding to the right side of the infield and allowing Hylton to move up another 90 feet to bring up Sam Benedict. 

In the final regular season at-bat of his career at Captains Park, S. Benedict battled at the plate after falling behind 0-2 in the count. He watched patiently and fought off pitch after pitch with four foul balls to load the count, including a shot that just trickled foul down the left field line. On the very next pitch, the senior second baseman managed to shoot a line drive over the head of the shortstop and into left field for the go-ahead RBI, putting the Captains ahead 5-4. With the base knock, he added to his career-high with his 46th base hit of the season and raised his average to .387 for the season. 

Returning to the mound to close out the win, Blazer continued to dominate with the one-run lead in hand. A groundball to short started the inning and a pair of fly ball outs ended the game and sealed the victory for Blazer, who improves to 1-0 this season. 

Offensively, the team was led by Croll with a 2-for-4 showing including three of the five runs batted in. Logan Adams was also 2-for-4 while S. Benedict, Reinhold, and Maxie each added base hits in the game on top of Hylton's pinch hit single. Slough had two sacrifices and an RBI. 

The Captains, ranked No. 36 in the NPI on May 1, will now face Mary Washington, ranked No. 28 in the NPI, in the regular season finale on Saturday. The game will have massive playoff implications for the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship as the top two seeds in the C2C will host semifinal matchups on Thursday, May 7. If Mary Washington wins the game, set for 2:00 p.m., the Eagles would be the top seed and CNU would slide to #3; if the Captains win, the seeding would be determined by a tiebreaker, the NPI rankings, following the game on Saturday. Live stats and live video will be available for all the action with links at CNUsports.com.