FERRUM, Va. -- Despite outhitting the home team on Sunday, 15-11, the fourth-ranked Christopher Newport Captains (16-4, 4-2) succumbed to a 7-6 setback on the road to Ferrum College. The Panthers improve to 14-8 overall, 3-3 in the USA South.

The Captains raced out to a 3-0 lead on Sunday, as the offense was clicking from the outset. Matt Shoemaker singled to left to lead off the second inning, and senior Steven Lindemuth blasted a two-run home run, his third of the season. In the third, Shannon Mark picked up the fist of his four base hits on the day and came around to score on a wild pitch and an error.

Junior starter Greg Goldsmith looked strong for the Captains early, giving up just a pair of singles in the first three innings. In the fourth, though, Goldsmith retired just one batter before the Panthers peppered him with baserunners. Eight straight Ferrum players reached base as the Panthers scored five runs in the inning and took a 5-3 lead.

In the sixth, CNU made it 5-4, scoring a run on an RBI single by Mark. The Captains got three hits in the inning, but stranded a pair in the rally. Ferrum answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh behind RBI singles from Brennan Iley and Peter Byron.

The Captains put together another small rally in the eighth inning when Ben Lenda and Chris McDougal reached on back-to-back singles bringing up the hottest bat in the Captains lineup, Shannon Mark. The senior center fielder smacked a two-RBI double to pull the Captains within one, and advanced to third on the throw to the plate. That's as close as CNU would get, though, as Ferrum reliever Adam Duncan worked out of the jam.

Tyler Easterly earned the win for Ferrum, while Goldsmith picked up his first loss of the season. Mark was 4-5 with three RBI and a run scored. Six different Captains had multi-hit games, including a 2-4 day from Lindemuth with two RBI and a run scored.

CNU will return to the field on Wednesday, March 21 as they host #8 Salisbury University at 3:00 pm.