HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, Va. -- Prior to their trip to Hampden-Sydney College on Tuesday afternoon, the Christopher Newport baseball team moved up two spots in the D3baseball.com Top 25, now ranked No. 16 in the nation. The Captains improved to 16-5 overall this season with an 8-4 win on the road against the Tigers led by a strong start from Jack Braley and five multi-hit performances by the CNU offense. 

Christopher Newport jumped out to a 3-0 lead for their junior starter and added two runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-0 lead. Braley was effective from the start, retiring 11 of the first 12 batters he faced, and pitched a career-high 7.0 innings in Tuesday's outing. He struck out five batters and surrendered three unearned runs before exiting in line for the win, his third career victory. 

The Captains defense was behind Braley, including another rifle from Ayden Stuffel in the bottom of the third. One game after picking up his first career outfield assist, Stuffel added a second as a Tigers hitter tried to stretch a single into a double. Stuffel scooped the ball up in right field and unleashed a dart toward the bag at second cutting down the overzealous runner. 

The CNU offense also backed Braley from the jump, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. Scott Crosson continued his scorching run at the plate with a lead-off walk and moved up to second on a picture-perfect sacrifice bunt by Josh Reinhold. Crosson then raced home on an RBI double by Zach Dzarnowski, who then traded places with Justin Bowers with a double of his own, down the left field line. Jake Benedict kept the line moving with an RBI single into center field, plating Bowers, and a fourth-straight hit came from Alec Reilly, singling into right center. 

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Captains scored two more on three hits as the lineup turned over. With one out, Sam Benedict singled and stole second to set up an RBI double by Stuffel. Two batters later, Crosson stepped in and continued his team-leading hitting streak with an RBI single down the left field line, running his roll at the plate to 16 straight games. It is the longest hitting streak for a Captain since 2018 when Seth Woodard rolled up 17 straight games with a base knock. 

CNU continued to attack the H-SC pitching staff, adding hits in each of the last four innings. Jake Benedict and Crosson added singles in the fifth and sixth before Bowers led off the seventh with his second double of the game. A groundball moved him up to third and Sam Benedict drove him in with a sacrifice fly. The Captains scored two runs on three hits in the eighth when Ethan Weaver singled to lead off the inning and Crosson reached base for the fourth time in six plate appearances with a free pass. Reinhold singled to center to load the bases and Bowers added a sac fly of his own. Finally, Jake Benedict chased in the final run of the game for the Captains with an RBi single into left field. 

The bullpen closed out the game with Danny Checkosky and Kyle Lewis pitching the final two frames. Lewis struck out one in the ninth and walked one while facing just four batters in the inning. 

Five Captains registered multi-hit performances led by three hits from Jake Benedict; Bowers, Crosson, Stuffel, and Weaver each recorded two-hit performances. All nine starters in the lineup picked up at least one hit as CNU finished with 15 in the game, including four doubles. 

CNU will continue another busy week on Wednesday with a home game against N.C. Wesleyan at 3:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at CNUsports.com. Following the home game, Christopher Newport will complete the home-and-home series with Randolph-Macon on the road Thursday at 3:00 p.m. and at Marymount on Saturday, at 2:00 p.m.