BUENA VISTA, Va. -- After wrapping up the month of March with a pristine 14-0 record, the Captains opened play in April with another win, dropping Southern Virginia University (10-12, 2-5) in Capital Athletic Conference action, 14-7. Including Wednesday's win over the Knights, the nationally-ranked CNU baseball team has done the bulk of it's damage away from home, winning 12 games during it's current 15-game winning streak away from home. 

Christopher Newport improved to 23-4 overall with a perfect 7-0 mark in conference play. During the win, CNU smacked four home runs to take over the national lead in long balls with 30 blasts on the year, including Brandon Ginch's team-leading seventh of the season with a two-run dinger in the first inning. Seth Woodard added his sixth, Austin Henry his second, and sophomore shortstop Nick DiNapoli cleared the fence for the first time in his career. 

On the mound, rookie Gray Goodrich improved to 5-1 with the win, tossing six efficient innings against the Knights. The freshman matched his season high with seven strikeouts for the third time this season, allowing three runs on eight hits. 

CNU and Southern Virginia traded two-run frames in the first inning before the Captains scored six straight runs in the third through fifth innings. A five-run seventh put the game out of reach and the Captains tacked on an insurance run in the eighth to run away with a 14-7 win on the road. 

Ginch made sure the Captains took the lead, taking advantage of a two-out walk by Woodard. Facing a 1-2 count, Ginch smashed a deep fly ball to straightaway center field to tie Nicholas Baham for the team lead in round-trippers with seven.

The Knights scratched two runs across on four hits in the bottom of the first before Goodrich settled in and retired 14 of the next 15 batters he faced. He struck out a pair in each the third and fourth innings while cruising through the Southern Virginia lineup.  

Meanwhile, his offense staked him to an 8-2 lead after five innings of play. Woodard and Ginch singled to start the third, and Woodard raced home on an error. Henry led off the fourth with a solo home run, and after Jordan Mason reached on an error, Woodard pounded a two-run home run out to left field. Red hot at the plate, Woodard has now hit a home run in three straight games and has five in the last eight matchups. 

After the three-run fourth inning, CNU tacked on two more in the fifth as Woodard and Ginch each delivered run-scoring singles. 

In the bottom of the sixth, Cole Critchfield snapped Goodrich's run with a solo home run to start the inning, followed by a single into right by Bridger Taylor. Facing his first trouble since the opening inning, the rookie right-hander retired the next three batters to end the threat. 

With Goodrich's day in the books, the Captains' offense kept cooking, adding five more runs on four hits in the top of the seventh. Again, Woodard and Ginch got things started with a walk and hit-by-pitch to put runners on for the middle of the order. Craig Johnson singled in both players to bring up DiNapoli, who picked up his first career home run. After the two-run blast, Ryan Grubbs walked and Henry singled to keep the line moving. Mason singled in Grubbs to round out the scoring in the frame. 

Josh Husby, Logan Aylor, and Carter Strain each tossed an inning of relief to hold onto the win for Goodrich. CNU tacked on one more unearned run when Woodard scored his fifth run of the game in the top of the eighth on an RBI grounder from senior Carter Biringer. It is the first time in the 18-year tenure of head coach John Harvell that a single player has scored five times in a game, matching a program record accomplished three times previously (Kevin Burton on 3/26/91; Matt Turner on 3/25/00; and Keith Windle on 4/16/00). 

Woodard finished the day 3-for-3 with a pair of walks, scoring after all five of his plate appearances. He also drove in three runs, as did Ginch, who wrapped up his strong performance 3-for-4 with an HBP, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Baham, Johnson, DiNapoli, and Henry all added two-hit performances as the Captains found a hole in the defense 17 times on the day. 

Jonathan Soto suffered the loss for the Knights, going 3.1 innings and allowing five runs on seven hits. Taylor was 4-for-4 and Critchfield finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. 

Christopher Newport will return home for their next three games, including a doubleheader against Marymount University on Sunday, April 8. Those games were originally scheduled for Saturday, but rain in the forecast has forced a change in the schedule. CNU will now take on the Saints at Noon on Sunday.