ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. -- The Christopher Newport baseball team continued it's winning ways, picking up it's fifth straight and 12th win in the last 13 games with a 6-3 victory on the road Tuesday afternoon, taking down North Carolina Wesleyan for the second time this season. The Captains improved to 15-5 overall while the Bishops are now 10-9 after sophomore starter Jay Cassady hurled another quality start for CNU. 

Cassady struck out 10 for the fourth time this season as he improved to 5-0 in six starts this year. He walked a pair and allowed five hits but kept the Battling Bishops off the board for 7.0 strong innings. He added a 2-for-3 showing at the plate to help lead the way for CNU on both sides of the field. 

The first time through the order Cassady faced just one more than the minimum with four strikeouts and an inning-ending double play in the second inning. In the fourth and fifth innings, he played into the defense again with two more double-plays. Continuing to showcase his dominance in the sixth and seventh, Cassady struck out a pair in both frames for his final total of 10. 

The sophomore southpaw now has 60 strikeouts in just 37 innings pitched as he continues on an unprecedented pace in Christopher Newport history. He has helped lead the Captains to the No. 1 pitching staff in the nation in terms of strikeouts per nine innings, now at 13.45 for the season. 

Also adding to that total are the two relief pitchers who came in to finish out the win for CNU as Danny Checkosky struck out one in two-third of an inning pitched while Daniel Elliott slammed the door with two K's in 1.1 innings pitched. Elliott earned his third save of the season after coming in with a runner on second and two outs in the bottom of the eighth. He ended the threat with a fly-out and work swiftly through the ninth with two strikeouts and another fly ball. 

While the pitching staff kept the Bishops off balance all day, the Captains offense scored in five innings with solid situational hitting. In the top of the first, the bases were loaded for Kevin Mackmin when the freshman showed off a good eye with an RBI base on balls. In the second inning, Drew Caroline reached on an error and came all the way around to score after a base-hit bunt by Conner Clark and an expertly placed groundball to the right side by Crosson for an RBI out. 

Helping his own cause in the top of the fourth, Cassady led off the inning with a triple and then raced home on a sacrifice fly by Clark. The biggest blow of the day made it 4-0 in the top of the sixth when Alec Reilly led off with a solo shot to right field. With N.C. Wesleyan scoring three later in the game, the no-doubter just to the left of the scoreboard in right center wound up being the game-winning score. The solo bomb was the first of the season for Reilly and the 14th of the year for CNU. 

The offense would tack on two insurance runs in the top of the seventh after Crosson and Justin Bowers walked to lead off. After advancing on a wild pitch, Daniel Elliott and Mackmin each lifted a pair of sacrifice flies for the final run count. 

Cassady was the lone Captain with multiple hits in the game while Mackmin's two RBI led the run production. Crosson was 1-for-4 with an RBI, a walk and he scored twice. 

Christopher Newport will take the rest of the week off until Sunday when they will travel to Virginia Wesleyan University for a 1:00 pm first pitch against the Marlins. The two teams just faced off this past Sunday with the Captains capturing an 8-3 win.