NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Led by a solid pitching performance from senior Jack Braley (1-0) and a hot start for Lincoln Lubsen against his former team, the 18th-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team got out to a 6-1 lead and held on for a 9-6 win against Randolph-Macon College (7-4) on Thursday afternoon. Lubsen had a game-high three hits while driving in the first two runs for the Captains in the win for CNU. 

The junior catcher transferred into Christopher Newport after playing his first two seasons at Randolph-Macon. In his first at-bat against his former team, Lubsen smacked a double off the wall in right center field to plate the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Zach Dzarnowski raced home to score after doubling on a two-out payoff pitch for the Captains to get in scoring position. 

After Macon drew even in the top of the third, Lubsen continued his strong start with another go-ahead RBI in the bottom half. To start the inning, Josh Reinhold singled up the middle and Dzarnowski walked in front of him. With nobody out, Lubsen reached out on a slow breaker and poked a flare into left field for his second RBI of the game. 

The Captains looked to break the game open with four runs on five hits in the bottom of the fourth to take a 6-1 lead. Kevin Mackmin got things started with a double into left field and Gus Croll dropped an RBI double into right center. The next batter, leadoff man Scott Crosson, hammered a 3-2 pitch high off the wall in left field, nearly leaving the yard on an RBI double as the line kept moving for the Captains. After the Yellow Jackets called on a reliever, Reinhold jumped on the first pitch he saw, hammering a two-run home run to dead center field. 

His first home run of the season and second of his career came in his third at-bat after reaching on a walk earlier in the game. The sophomore shortstop has now reached base in 56 consecutive games, moving up to ninth on the all-time Division III list. 

While the offense staked him to a five-run lead after four, senior Jack Braley was effective against the powerful Randolph-Macon offense. Braley pitched to contact, inducing a number of pop-ups and groundball outs against the Yellow Jackets while striking out four. In the second inning, he erased a one-out single with an inning-ending double play ball and after a lead-off triple in the third, Braley limited R-MC to just a single run with a groundout and two strikeouts. 

Braley got through the fourth and fifth unscathed, stranding one runner in each inning. The Yellow Jackets took advantage of an error extending the top of the sixth and scored two unearned runs against the Captains' starter. 

With a 6-3 lead, the Captains called on fifth-year senior reliever Jack Rosenberg to start the top of the seventh. He got a quick flyball out, but then the next three batters reached base. Then, CNU called on senior reliever Kyle Lewis to get out of the jam. The first batter he faced, Lewis struck out on four pitches, but a fielding error extended the inning and allowed Randolph-Macon to close to within one run, 6-5. 

In the bottom of the seventh, Christopher Newport scored three runs on three hits to add some insurance for Lewis. Doc Daniels led off with a single before, two batters later, Eric Wilson doubled into left field to get a pair of Captains into scoring position. Mackmin then delivered again, driving in a run with a single into left field. After Gus Croll walked the bases loaded, Crosson walked in a run and Dzarnowski picked up an RBI HBP. 

The runs proved imperative when Randolph-Macon scored one run on three hits and an error in the top of the ninth, but Lewis escaped any further damage with another strikeout and flyball to left to end the game. He earned his second save of the season by pitching the final 2.2 innings of the close game while striking out three. 

Four CNU players finished with multi-hit games as Lubsen led the way going 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Reinhold's two-run homer highlighted a 2-for-5 showing that included a pair of runs scored. Eric Wilson was 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored and Kevin Mackmin finished 2-for-3 with a walk, RBI, two runs scored and a double. 

The Captains will return to action on Friday afternoon as they play host to Marymount University (11-2) at 3:00 p.m. Live stats and a live video webcast will be available at CNUsports.com.