NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- In a swift conference battle at Captains Park on Wednesday afternoon, the ninth-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team improved to 28-6, 12-2 with an 8-2 win over Southern Virginia University. The Captains smacked five extra-base hits, including the ninth home run of the season for Seth Woodard. 

Southern Virginia fell to 15-14 overall with a 6-7 record in conference play. The Captains outhit the Knights, 12-7, and scored at least one run in five of eight trips to the plate.  

The dangerous Captains offense got on the board first in the bottom of the first inning with a small two-out rally. After the first two outs were recorded, Woodard reached on a hit-by-pitch and moved up to second on a passed ball. Brandon Ginch stepped in and hammered a double into the left field corner to send Woodard across the plate. 

The starting pitchers then worked through the next several innings quickly with little issue. The game took just over two hours as the rookies, Josh Husby for CNU and Nate McCallum for Southern Virginia, impressed in their starts. Husby allowed just one hit in the first three innings, and worked out of a jam with just one unearned run allowed in the fourth. The Knights drew even, 1-1, after the top half of the fourth, though, as Canon Anderson raced home from second on a wild pitch and errant throw to first on a dropped third strike. 

CNU chased McCallum in the fifth when rookie Conner Clark roped a line drive triple to the right center field wall. Clark came in to score on an RBI single by Ginch and the Captains re-took the lead, 3-1. 

Husby worked into the sixth inning where the Knights threatened to tie the game again, loading the bases against the rookie hurler. The Captains called on junior Austin Slough to stymie the threat and he quickly worked ahead of the batter, Ryan Saunders, with a pair of breaking balls in the zone for strikes. On the next pitch, he got Saunders to fly out to left field, as Slough made sure the Knights stranded all three runners.
 
 Over the next three innings, the CNU offense turned the two-run game into a run-away victory. Woodard drove in a run in the bottom of the sixth, plating Ryan Grubbs, and back-to-back doubles from Nicholas Baham and Craig Johnson scored the first run of the seventh. Grubbs added a sacrifice fly later in the inning as the Captains took a 6-1 lead heading into the final two innings. In the bottom of the eighth, Clark singled to lead off the inning and Woodard smashed a two-run dinger to left center. 

In relief of Slough, CNU sent their top two bullpen arms to the hill to close out the win. Sophomore Brian Owens made his team-high 22nd appearance and senior Joe Burris his 21st. The duo each posted perfect frames, retiring the last six Knights in order. 

CNU got four multi-hit games, highlighted by Woodard's 2-for-4 effort with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored. He now has 51 RBI on the season, marking the first 50+ RBI season for the Captains since 2011 and just the second time in the last ten years. Ginch and Clark were each 2-for-5 and Johnson added a 2-for-3 effort. 

Husby (4-0) tossed 5.2 innings with just one unearned run allowed on six hits. He struck out six batters and issued a pair of walks. Slough went 1.1 innings with one hit and a run while Owens and Burris each had one strikeout in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. 

The Captains will hit the road for a doubleheader Saturday against Penn State Harrisburg with first pitch scheduled for Noon.