NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The nationally-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team improved to 23-6 on the season with a three-game sweep of St. Joseph's University (Brooklyn), finishing out the series with a 7-3 win on Sunday afternoon. Sophomore Justin Liakos powered out his second homer of the weekend to headline a group of four extra-base hits in the game. 

In addition to Liakos' big blow in the third inning, the Captains added three more extra base hits and three players finished with multi-hit performances: Josh Reinhold, Justin Bowers, and Ayden Stuffel. Bowers had two extra-base knocks of his own, including a stand-up triple to lead off the second and an RBI double to give CNU the lead for good in the fifth. 

On the mound, Jack Anderson faced just ten batters in three efficient innings as the Captains' starter, striking out one and working around a pair of hits. The staff game went to Dylan Blazer in the fourth before handing off to David Gingras (2-0) for 2.2 innings, Kyle Lewis, and Danny Checkosky for an inning apiece. 

The Captains jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Bears rallied to tie the game at 3-all. From there, Christopher Newport scored three runs to take the lead in the fifth and one more in the bottom of the seventh. 

In the bottom of the second, Bowers led off with a triple and came in to score on an RBI groundout by Jake Benedict. Then in the third, Liakos turned on an 0-2 pitch for his second blast of the season to double the score. Capping a strong weekend, the second baseman  split the outfielders with a long ball over the left center field fence. CNU loaded the bases for Bowers, who worked through a long at-bat before taking a nine-pitch walk to score another run. 

St. Joseph's scored one run in the top of the fourth and then tied the game with two in the top of the fifth. The draw would not last long, though, as the Captains answered with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. After Josh Reinhold was hit by a pitch and Zach Dzarnowski walked, Bowers stepped in and delivered again, for the third time in the game. He smashed a double into the gap to plate another run with the go-ahead RBI. Two batters later, Alec Reilly delivered with a bases loaded groundball through the right side for a two-base two-RBI knock. 

CNU manufactured one more run in the bottom of the seventh after a pair of walks set up an RBI single by pinch hitter Kevin Mackmin. With Dzarnowski and Reilly on base, the sophomore infielder rapped a liner over the head of the shortstop to drive in the game's final run. 

Gingras earned his second win of the season in relief with 2.2 innings of scoreless pitching for the Captains. He struck out a pair and walked none. Lewis and Checkosky faced just eight batters in the final two frames to close out the win.

It marks the 11th win in the last 12 games for Christopher Newport, who improves to 23-6 on the season. The Bears fall to 5-8 after the three-game set. 

The Captains will return to action on Tuesday, March 28 as they host Pfeiffer University at 3:00 p.m. Live stats and a live video webcast will be available at CNUsports.com.