BRIDGEWATER, Va. -- All nine starters registered multi-hit performances as the Christopher Newport baseball team churned out 23 total hits at Bridgewater College on Tuesday afternoon, en route to defeating the Eagles, 20-12. The Captains tied for the third most hits in a single game with the 23 base knocks highlighted by a career-best 5-for-7 showing from leadoff man Conner Clark. 

Clark legged out three doubles in his five-hit performance, ranking tied for second in Christopher Newport baseball history. Along the way he drove in four runs and scored four times and added his 12th stolen base of the season. Clark raised his batting average over 30 points in the game and is now hitting a league-leading .483 on the season. He currently ranks fourth in the nation among players with at least 50 at-bats so far this year. 

While Clark's final line led the way, rookie Jonathan Fisher added 4 RBI and a pair of runs scored and senior Andrew Suppa drove in 3 with a 3-for-5 showing at the dish. The impressive individual performances littered the lineup on Tuesday as senior Trey Hicks went 2-for-2 with a walk and a home run in his fourth consecutive game; junior Eric O'Brien reached base five times with a 2-for-4 effort, an HBP, and two walks. Freshman Alec Reilly reached in four of his six plate appearances with two hits and two walks while adding a sacrifice fly. 

All nine starting Captains had at least two hits each with Clark (5), Suppa (3), and Samuel Essex (3) adding even more. In addition to Clark's three doubles and Hicks' home run, the Christopher Newport offense got two more extra-base hits with doubles off the bat of Fisher and Evan Baer. 

Christopher Newport raced out to a 4-0 lead after their first two at-bats and never trailed after scoring nine more runs in the middle innings. The Captains tacked on a single run in the seventh and six more in the top of the ninth to hit the 20-run plateau for the first time this season. In the first, Hicks drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to plate the game's first run and then Suppa singled in another run. Two more came in during the top of the second with an RBI single by Clark and then a run-scoring single by O'Brien. 

Bridgewater closed the gap to 4-3 with three runs in the bottom of the second, but the Captains pulled away again with three in the top of the fourth. O'Brien and Hicks walked ahead of Baer's double and an RBI groundout by Suppa. Hicks' solo shot would come in the fifth, capping a four-run, five-hit frame that saw the Captains open up an 11-5 advantage. 

The hits, and the runs, would keep coming for Christopher Newport through the remainder of the game. The contest would last nearly four hours (3:51) as the two teams combined for 32 runs on 44 hits at the BC Baseball Field. 

Christopher Newport will look to keep the offense firing this weekend as they play host to Johnson & Wales University and Roger Williams University. Game times are set for 11:00 and 2:00 on Saturday, March 14 as the two out-of-town teams do battle at Captains Park. Then, Christopher Newport will face Johnson & Wales in the second game. On Sunday, March 15, the Captains will entertain Roger Williams at 11:00 am.