NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Christopher Newport baseball team leaned on solid pitching and capitalized on their opponents mistakes as the Captains won, 10-1, over Susquehanna and dropped No. 19 North Carolina Wesleyan, 6-4, in two games on Saturday. CNU saw it's overall record draw even at 3-3 with the Saturday sweep.
In game one, the Captains scored seven runs in the second to pull away from Susquehanna and sophomore starter Colby Shriner (1-1) kept the River Hawks off balance. He gave up just a single unearned run on three hits while striking out six batters for the win. Danny Checkosky and Kyle Lewis combined for the final three innings, striking out eight and giving up just one hit.
In the second game, starting pitcher Dylan Weber left in line for the win after striking out five batters over five innings. Daniel Elliott (1-0) coughed up the lead in his first inning with a pair of unearned runs, but rallied with an impressive four frames of work out of the bullpen to earn his first collegiate victory. Elliott struck out eight batters in 4.0 IP.
The long day at Captains Park started with nine quick outs recorded in the first inning and a half before Christopher Newport blew the game open in the bottom of the second. Kyle Schofield opened the inning by reaching on an error by the shortstop. He moved up to second on a walk by Michael Martorano and then onto third after an exceptionally-placed bunt by Brayden Hodges. Hodges laid down a textbook base-hit bunt on the third base line that Susquehanna tried to will foul, but the ball stopped on top of the line to load the bases.
The first run would come in on a fielders choice by rookie Will Pellegrino, who had ripped a hard shot off the bat, but right at the third baseman. The next batter, Jonathan Fisher, kicked off an impressive day at the plate with a hard-hit single through the left side for an RBI single. After another error by the shortstop, Pellegrino raced home to score, and with new life in the inning, the Captains kept hitting. Conner Clark walked and Scott Crosson plated a run with a single into right field. Jay Cassady then delivered a sacrifice fly to center and after a pair of stolen bases, Schofield smacked a two-run single into right field during his second at-bat of the inning.
That would be plenty of support for Shriner, who cruised through the second inning on seven pitches and faced the minimum through the first 11 batters. The River Hawks finally broke through for one run in the fifth, after an error extended the inning, but Shriner induced a ground ball and struckout the next two batters to limit the damage. He added two more K's in his final inning of work to close out an impressive quality start.
CNU scored one more in the seventh when the Susquehanna reliever balked with a runner on third. Rookie Grant Hartman was the runner, who had entered the game as a defensive replacement at catcher in the top of the seventh inning. He picked up his first collegiate hit with a single into center field and moved up on a passed ball and wild pitch before the balk. In the eighth, Hartman delivered an RBI single after fellow freshman Kevin Mackmin also plated a run one batter earlier.
On the mound, Danny Checkosky worked through trouble in the seventh to strike out the side and Kyle Lewis worked quickly through two perfect innings with five strikeouts in six batters faced.
The second game featured more fireworks offensively, including a pair of home runs by the Captains. First, Justin Bowers hit a mammoth solo shot to deep center field for his first career roundtripper as a Captain and later, Jonathan Fisher delivered a go-ahead three-run blast for his first of the season.
Bowers smashed his solo shot in the bottom of the second to put the Captains ahead, 1-0. The nationally-ranked Battling Bishops answered with two unearned runs against Weber in the top of the third to teeter ahead, 2-1. Then in the bottom of the fourth, Fisher pulled a three-run shot over the left field wall to retake the lead, 4-2. With two outs, Pellegrino reached on a catcher's interference call and Mackmin then kept the inning alive with a single into center field. That would bring up Fisher who went yard on a 3-2, 2 out payoff pitch.
N.C. Wesleyan drew even in the top of the sixth when Daniel Elliott came on to pitch for the Captains. It would not be tied long, however, as the Captains retook the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth. With a runner on first with one out, Mackmin stepped in and pounded a double into the right field corner for an RBI and the lead. After the second out, rookie Justin Liakos slipped a single through the right side for another run-scoring knock and CNU took a 6-4 lead.
Pitching with the lead again, Elliott recovered in the seventh by striking out two and allowing just an infield single. He cruised through the eighth in order with a pair of strikeouts and faced just four batters in the ninth for the final results.
CNU pitching struck out 14 batters in the first game and 13 in game two. There were five multi-hit performances in the two games from five different players. Against the nationally-ranked Bishops, Clark, Bowers, and Mackmin each rapped a pair of hits.
The Captains are back in action on Wednesday, February 23 as they host Bridgewater College at 2:00 p.m.