NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The third-seeded Christopher Newport baseball team carried a 7-2 advantage into the bottom of the eighth inning but the nationally-ranked Salisbury Sea Gulls responded with six runs in the final two innings to walk off a win in the 2026 Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Semifinals, 8-7. The Captains fall to 24-15 overall this season with the loss and Salisbury advances to face top-seeded Mary Washington in the C2C Championship at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
The Captains played three games against Salisbury in 2026 with a final scoring margin of just four runs. First, CNU captured a 2-0 win on the road before the Sea Gulls earned a 2-1 win at Captains Park. The Friday afternoon rubber match finished up as a one-run game as well, 8-7, with the Sea Gulls scoring two in the bottom of the ninth to pick up the win.
For CNU, graduate student
Jackson Baird started all three matchups and pitched well in all three. On Friday, the veteran right-hander gave up just one run on four hits while striking out six batters in 4.0 innings pitched. He left the game with a 4-1 lead and handed the ball off to fellow senior right-hander,
Cooper Newell. Newell struck out a pair and gave up just one run on two hits to keep Christopher Newport in the lead, 4-2, after six innings. Senior
Dylan Blazer then pitched a clean seventh inning, inducing three pop-ups on 10 pitches to cruise through the inning.
In the top of the eighth, the Captains delivered a big blow to Salisbury's chances with three runs on four hits to take a 7-2 lead. All three runs came with two outs as the Captains' season-long clutch hitting continued as
Cameron Slough and
Gus Croll delivered back-to-back two-out singles to kickstart the rally. Rookie
Logan Adams then smashed a two-run double into left field as Slough and Croll sprinted around the bases to score. Pinch hitter
Lukas Miller then ripped a two-out RBI double into right field to trade places with Adams, extending the lead to five.
From there, however, Salisbury manufactured a run in the bottom half and picked up a pivotal three-run home run by Trent Waire to close the gap back to a single run, 7-6. In the ninth, the Captains went quietly before Salisbury sent four batters to the plate and all four reached to win the game. Griffin Shirk delivered the fateful blow with a single into center field to allow the winning run to score from third base.
Prior to the disastrous finish for CNU, the visiting team controlled the action at the plate. Getting things started early, senior
Sam Benedict reached on a single into center field in the top of the first and senior
Josh Reinhold blasted a two-run home run over the wall in right center field to lift CNU to a 2-0 lead. In the third,
Jake Benedict singled up the middle and stole second base to get into scoring position. After a sacrifice bunt by his brother, Reinhold walked -- his 111th career free pass -- and
Aaron Maxie came through with his team-leading 38th RBI of the season by singling through the right side.
The fourth inning saw the Captains increase the lead by one with the first career home run by Donoval Newell. Again, with two outs, the Captains took a 4-1 advantage.
On the mound, Baird was firing on all cylinders, earning five straight outs by strikeout to end the first through the first out of the third inning. He added a sixth punchout to close the third and then got through the fourth with a double play and a flyball out to keep the Sea Gulls off the board.
Newell kept it moving in the right direction, working around a one-out walk in the fifth with a line drive to the outfield and a strikeout to close the inning. In the sixth, the Sea Gulls struck for one against Newell but another K and a groundball to short ended the threat with two on.
The CNU lineup recorded 10 hits with each spot in the lineup notching at least one hit in the game. Slough led the team with a 2-for-4 effort at the plate while Reinhold reached twice with a 1-for-4 showing and a walk. Croll also reached twice with a walk while going 1-for-3.
The Captains, ranked No. 40 in the NPI prior to Friday's games, will now await the results of the remainder of the NCAA Division III baseball schedule to see if their resume will be enough to be included in the 2026 NCAA Division III Baseball Championships. The selection show will be held on NCAA.com at Noon on Monday, May 11.
