NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The nationally-ranked Salisbury Sea Gulls raced out to an early lead and held off the Christopher Newport baseball team on Wednesday afternoon, capturing a 14-7 win in the Capital Athletic Conference season opener for both programs. The Captains fall to 10-3 overall, 0-1 in CAC action, while the Sea Gulls are now 6-3 overall, 1-0 against the conference. 

Christopher Newport senior Tommy Vitaletti kept up his hot start to the season with a 3-for-5 effort including a pair of home runs, but the rest of the CNU offense was relatively held in check for most of the afternoon. 

Facing Jeff Oster, making his season debut, the Captains scored five runs in the first five innings on two swings. First, it was senior Josh Moore who went opposite field in the bottom of the second inning to smack his second home run of the season for a two-run shot. Then, in the bottom of the fifth, Vitaletti got under a 2-2 fastball and launched a high, long fly ball right down the line. It left the ball park just fair, and the Captains chased the Salisbury starter after allowing five earned in 4.1 innings of work. 

Salisbury called on reliever Connor Reeves, who strapped in for the remainder of the game. Reeves (2-0) picked up the win in relief, allowing four hits in 4.2 innings of work, striking out a pair. He gave up one run in the sixth and then a solo home run to Vitaletti in the bottom of the 9th inning. 

The CNU senior added a high chopper over the third baseman's head in the 7th inning for his third htiu

Senior Connor Henderson also registered a multi-hit day for the Captains, going 2-for-3 with one walk. He extended his team-high 12-game hitting streak with a double to right center in his first at-bat. He added a free pass in the fourth inning and a hard hit single up the middle in his third AB, reaching base in each of his first three plate appearances. 

Seven different pitchers saw action in the game for CNU, as Salisbury finished the day with 14 runs on 18 hits. Craig Johnson (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing six earned in 1.2 innings. Rookies Kyle Zimmerman, Logan Harrelson and Davis Bailey combined to throw 3.2 shutout innings to end the game. 

All nine Salisbury hitters registered at least one hit and seven had multi-hit performances. Jake Dmiterchik led the way with a 3-for-6 performance that included 6 RBI, while Tom LaBriola added 4 RBI in a 3-for-5 effort. 

Christopher Newport is back in action this Saturday, March 12 as they host St. Mary's (Md.) in a conference doubleheader scheduled to begin at 11:00 am. Live stats and live video will be available at CNUsports.com/live.