NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- It was a tale of two games in a non-conference doubleheader at Captains Park on Saturday, as the eighth-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team ran away with game one, 12-4, but dropped an 18-6 decision to the Bridgewater Eagles (16-6) in game two. The Captains improved to 23-8-1 with the split, as junior Austin Chrismon (6-2) picked up the win in the opener. 

The Captains finished the day with 27 hits, including 17 in the first game in support of Chrismon. By the end of the third inning, CNU was out to a 4-1 lead in the wire-to-wire win. Rookie Travis Younger got things started with an RBI double, and came around to score on a single by Kyle Corwin. 

Billy Steel and Christopher McDougal would score in the third inning when freshman Jacob Houston doubled to right center field. Then, in the fourth, Steel would add a two-run double of his own and score on a McDougal single to help open up a 7-1 advantage. All seven runs were scored with two outs. 

Chrismon, who struggled with his command early in the contest, settled in nicely and retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced. He finished with a 7-inning quality start, giving up just three hits while striking out seven. Senior Matt Verdillo finished out the game, pitching the final two innings in relief.

All but one starter registered at least one hit and six players had multi-hit performances in the first game. McDougal (2-for-2), Steel (2-for-3), Houston (2-for-4), and catcher Tommy Kane (2-for-4) each drove in a pair as CNU blew past the Eagles, 12-4. 

The tide would turn quickly in game two, however, as the visitors would exact their revenge. The Eagles put up 17 hits in the game, against four Christopher Newport pitchers. 

The starter, Brandon Taylor, struggled through the first two innings and fell behind, 5-0. Jonathan Mason hit an RBI double and two more would come around to score on an Andrew Hacker single. In the second inning, Mason added another RBI double after a sacrifice fly from Bryan Sanderson. 

Still, the CNU offense would answer against Bridgewater starter Justin Petock, and evened things up in the third. McDougal singled home an RBI before Justin Weaver picked up a pair of RBI on a double down the right field line. He would score the game-tying run on a wild pitch, knotting things up at 5-5. 

The Eagles tacked on one in the fourth and two more in the fifth, though, to chase Taylor from the game with eight runs allowed, six earned. The rookie left-hander gave up 11 hits and walked a pair, and was held without a strikeout for the first time in his young career. 

In the sixth inning, Bridgewater pulled away from CNU with a big six-run inning. All six runs were scored against senior reliever Richard Lindsay, who hadn't given up an earned run all season heading into Saturday's outing. He picked up one strikeout, but three singles and three batters hit led to a big inning, capped by a two-run single from Hunter Hensley. At the end of it all, CNU trailed 14-5 headed into the bottom of the sixth. 

The Eagles added four more runs in the late innings for the final score, 18-6, as Taylor suffered his second loss of the season. Ryan Leake (1-0) earned his first win of the season, with an impressive five-inning relief effort, striking out five and giving up just three hits out of the bullpen. 

McDougal and Weaver had two RBI for CNU in the setback, and four CNU batters had two-hit performances as the Captains piled up 10 hits, but it wouldn't be enough. Mason was 4-for-7 with four RBI and three runs scored for the Eagles, while Nick Fulk added a three-hit and three-walk performance with four runs scored. 

CNU will now travel to Gallaudet for a non-conference game on Sunday at 1:00 pm.