CNU, Piedmont early winners in USA South Tourney


The USA South Player of the Year, Justin Weaver, was a perfect 3-for-3 with three extra-base hits in the tournament opener. Christopher Newport athletics photo

Led by the efforts of the newly crowned USA South Pitcher and Player of the Year, the top-seeded Christopher Newport Captains breezed into the second round of the USA South conference tournament with a 6-1 win over #8-seed Greensboro. Junior Austin Chrismon (7-3) tossed six scoreless innings and Justin Weaver was 3-for-3 with a two-run home run to lead the way for CNU on Thursday. CNU will play the winner of the Piedmont, a 9-1 winner in game two of the tournament. Greensboro will play LaGrange in the first game on Friday. In the late USA South action Maryville shut out N.C. Wesleyan 12-0 and Methodist defeated Averett 3-2.

William Paterson's pitchers combined to allow just one hit as the Pioneers earned a 4-2 victory at The College of New Jersey. William Paterson handed the Lions a 2-0 first-inning lead with two walks, a wild pitch and an error but were able to keep the Lions off the scoreboard the rest of the game. William Paterson halved the lead in the next inning and added a three spot in the fifth to complete the scoring.

Senior Tucker White and junior Chris Bernard hit home runs as the visiting Southern Maine Huskies pounded out 17 hits en route to a 15-8 victory over the Husson Eagles at the Winkin Complex. The victory extends the Huskies' winning streak to 12 games. The red-hot hitting White was 3-for-6 with two doubles, a home run and five RBI. Bernard also had five RBI coming on a sacrifice fly and a grand slam homer during the Huskies' eight-run seventh-inning uprising.

Sophomore Charles Thielmann tossed a complete game shutout as No 1 Kean breezed past Rutgers-Newark by the final of 10-0. Thielmann scattered four singles and one walk in an efficient 98 pitch outing. He also struck out four as he faced just four batters over the minimum. Kean improves to 22-5 overall and 6-1 in NJAC play in their first game since being ranked in the top spot in the D3baseball.com Top 25 poll. The Cougars are riding a six game winning streak.

Gallaudet swept a NEAC doubleheader from Lancaster Bible 8-2, 11-8. Freshman Ryan Rippy pitched a complete game in the opener, allowing two runs on four hits. A rough start to the second game was about to get out of hand for Gallaudet at the Bisons found themselves down 8-2. The Bison dug in and scored nine runs in the bottom of the fifth inning en route to roll to the win.


*Apolinar De la Cruz drove in three rins for Wheaton's fourth straight win.* Wheaton (Mass.) athletics photo

No. 12 Wheaton (Mass.) ran its winning streak to four-straight games with a 7-2 victory against Western New England at Sidell Stadium. Alec Palioca struck out a game-high five batters over six-and-two-thirds innings pitched, allowed eight hits, two runs (both earned) and no walks to improve his record to 6-1 overall on the season. Freshman Eric Dumas held the Golden Bears scoreless for one-and-one-thirds innings while junior Ryan Grant spun a clean ninth.

Oglethorpe made quick work of Rust, defeating them via the 10-run rule, 13-1 in seven innings. Hunter Riley had an excellent day off the bench, going 2-for-3 with two doubles, four RBIs and two runs scored. Vernon Trice went 3-for-4 with a walk, an RBI, two runs and two stolen bases, while Nick Manai went 2-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI, three runs and a stolen base.

Justin Christensen out dueled Matt Mullin as the Manhattanville Valiants fell at home to the Mount St. Mary Knights by a 2-1 score in 10 innings. For Mount St. Mary, Christensen pitched nine complete innings on 111 pitches to earn the win as he allowed just one run over five Manhattanville hits and four walks, while punching out three batters.

No. 25 Shenandoah bounced back their loss to Catholic with a 21-4 non-league baseball victory over visiting Wesley. The Hornets banged out a season-high 25 hits in the blowout win over Wesley. Shenandoah, which has reached the 20-win mark for the 10^th consecutive season with the triumph, blew the game open with a nine-run seventh.

Neumann held Washington College to just three hits en route to a 16-0 win. Matt Sheneman scored four runs, knocked in three and had two hits in the game. Buddy Elgin had three hits and scored three runs. Ryan Ficca had three hits and Dave Kalash had three RBI.


Taylor Berman allowed one earned run in seven innings as Washington (Mo.) earned a win over Fontbonne. Washington (Mo.) athletics photo

Senior Taylor Berman allowed one earned run in seven innings and the Bears connected on back-to-back-to-back home runs in the seventh as Washington (Mo.) posted a 13-1 win over Fontbonne at Kelly Field in St. Louis. Berman was in control from start to finish. He retired the first seven batters of the game and did not allow a hit until the third inning. Berman struck out four and walked two en route to the 10th victory of his career. Kyle Billig, Chris Lowery and Zack Kessinger homered in three-consecutive at-bats in the seventh.

In a North Shore Cup matchup against Salem State, Endicott took a heartbreaking loss 1-0 in 11 innings at North Field. The Gulls dropped to 14-10 on the year, despite a strong effort on the hill by junior pitcher Tyler Hill while the Vikings improved to 12-10 as an infield miscue allowed Salem State to score.

New Jersey City University led 5-1 before Richard Stockton scored four times in the fifth and seventh innings and tallied nine of the game's final 10 runs to outlast the Gothic Knights, 10-6, in the opening game of a home-and-home NJAC series.