NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Bonus baseball on day one of the 2024 season provided fans with plenty of fireworks at Captains Park on Friday afternoon as the 20th-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team opened the season with a 2-1 extra-inning win over William Peace University (1-2). Junior transfer Doc Daniels delivered the game-winning blow with a two-out walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th, upstaging one of the most dominant pitching performances in CNU baseball history.

The Captains pitching staff combined for 19 strikeouts against the Pacers on Friday, marking the finest opening day effort ever and the second most punchouts in a game in program history. Fifth-year starter Dylan Weber led the way with his seventh career double-digit strikeout performance, retiring 12 batters on strikes in six innings pitched. He started the game for CNU and allowed just two hits and one run over six strong, tying the second most strikeouts in a game during his career. 

Five relievers combined to pitch the final four frames for the Captains, piling on seven more strikeouts against William Peace. Kyle Lewis tossed a perfect seventh inning with two K's, both looking, before Christian Williams earned a pair of monumental strikeouts in a tie-game bases loaded situation in the eighth. Daniel Elliott struck out one in the ninth inning and Jack Rosenberg (1-0), making his first appearance since March 13, 2022, slammed the door with two more in the tenth. 

It marks the most strikeouts in a game since the record of 21 was set at Shenandoah on March 25, 2005. That game, which also went to extra innings, saw Mike Cosby strikeout 12 while pitching into the ninth and Kenny Moreland throw 4.2 no-hit innings of relief with nine strikeouts. 

The impressive showing on the mound helped keep the Captains in the game despite just three hits over the first nine innings. With the game knotted at one run apiece, CNU played into extra innings on opening day for the first time since 2014. In the bottom of the tenth, though, the Captains offense came alive. 

With two outs, junior transfer Lincoln Lubsen smacked a first-pitch fastball into left field to get the Captains offense working. Three pitches later, veteran outfielder Scott Crosson roped a line drive up the middle to move Lubsen up 90 feet and get the game-winning run in scoring position. Head coach John Harvell called on pinch runner Gavin Spencer to take Lubsen's spot on second and the move proved savvy as Doc Daniels delivered a line drive into left field. The added speed on the basepaths won the game, as Spencer sped around third and slid into home ahead of the throw on the game-winning base knock by Daniels in his first career game as a Captain. 

Lubsen and Crosson led the offense with two hits apiece while Daniels and Josh Reinhold each added one. CNU got on the board, tying the game at 1-1, in the bottom of the seventh when Crosson sprinted home on a wild pitch. He reached on a lead-off double into the left field corner and moved up on a groundball by rookie Aaron Maxie. 

Reinhold, the sophomore shortstop for Christopher Newport, worked a walk in the first inning and reached on an infield single in the third. With his performance on Friday, he passed CNU Hall of Famer Billy Steel for the second longest on-base streak in program history with his 43rd consecutive game on base. Already having set the Division III record for longest run by a freshman after reaching in all 42 games he played in last year, he now ranks tied for 17th all-time in Division III with Max Golembo (WashU April 30, 2013-April 30, 2014) and Justin Harriman (St. Scholastica March 27, 1999-April 1, 2000). 

Christopher Newport will return to action on Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled against Southern Virginia University starting at 11:00 a.m. The Captains will also welcome Eastern Mennonite on Sunday for a 2:00 p.m. first pitch.