NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Gus Croll and Ayden Stuffel each blasted their first home runs of the season while Josh Reinhold extended his program-record on-base streak but the 11th-ranked Captains fell to 8-5 on the season after dropping a pair against Penn State Harrisburg (6-5) on Sunday. Christopher Newport suffered an 8-2 loss in the opener before falling, 10-5, to the Lions in the second game. 

The Lions halted a seven-game winning streak for CNU baseball against their former conference rivals and earned the team's first wins against the Captains since 2019. CNU is now 18-8 all-time against Penn State Harrisburg. 

After setting the program record for consecutive games reaching base in the Captains' last game, Josh Reinhold was in danger of not reaching for the first time in his career during game one. Reinhold surpassed Seth Woodard's 52-game streak last Sunday when he got on against Methodist in an extra-inning loss. In Sunday's first game, the sophomore shortstop opened the game 0-for-4 before a late rally gave him one more chance at the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. With a runner on first base, Reinhold jumped on the first pitch he saw in his final at-bat and singled cleanly into right field to extend his stream to 54 games. 

In game two, Reinhold wasted no time making it 55 games by walking in his first at-bat. The monumental streak continues as he has reached base in all 55 games played during his career. The second-year star tied Washington & Jefferson's Andy Trettel (April 2009-April 2010) for the ninth longest run in NCAA Division III history. 

His base hit in the ninth inning of game one came just three batters after Gus Croll left the yard for the first time in his career. He led off the bottom of the ninth with a high fly to right center field to double the Captains' score. In the eighth, Scott Crosson scored the first run of the game for CNU when Lincoln Lubsen singled into right field for a two-out RBI. Unfortunately, that was all the offense the Captains could muster against the Penn State Harrisburg pitching staff in game one. 

Dylan Weber (2-1) suffered the loss after getting through seven innings in the start for CNU. He allowed five runs, two earned, on seven hits and four walks while striking out nine. Connor Godshalk surrendered a couple of runs in 1.1 innings and Peter Hoenig gave up one run on one hit in two-thirds pitched. Mitchell Mortensen pitched a perfect ninth inning, retiring the side in order to round out the overall pitching performance. 

In game two, Brandon Cassedy took the ball and kept the Lions off the board the first time through the lineup despite four hits in the first three innings. He got a couple of key double plays and three strikeouts to work around the baserunners. In the top of the fourth, though, the Lions struck first without ever leaving the infield. The first two batters reached on a walk and hit-by-pitch before Cassedy earned another strikeout. A tough play to first base led to a run-scoring error and then another groundball on the infield plated the second run as the Lions crept in front, 2-0. 

CNU would not let the lead last very long as they responded with two in the bottom half of the inning. Doc Daniels walked before Stuffel stepped in and drove a 3-2 pitch over the wall in right field for his second career home run. His first round-tripper of the season evened the score at 2-2 and chased the PSH starting pitcher from the game. 

The Lions rebounded to re-take the lead, 4-2, on a two-run homer of their own. Cassedy finished out the fifth with a groundball out back to the mound and a strikeout swinging, his seventh. After Ryan Morrison took over, the Captains got their starting pitcher off the hook with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. 

Lubsen led off with a single up the middle before Daniels doubled to right field. Stuffel walked, loading the bases, and two batters later it was rookie Cameron Slough with the big hit, sneaking a groundball up the middle to plate a pair. 

Again Penn State Harrisburg had a quick response, scoring five runs in the top of the seventh with what would prove to be the game-winning frame. The teams traded runs in the bottom of the seventh and top of the eighth, but the Captains could not muster any more offense in the 10-5 setback. Reinhold singled, Zach Dzarnowski walked, and Daniels singled up the middle for the final run by CNU. 

Daniels finished 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI, and two runs scored in game two. He added a 1-for-3 effort with a walk in game one to lead the way for the CNU offense. Lubsen also had a three-hit day including a 2-for-4 showing in game one with a walk. 

On the mound in game two, Morrison (1-1) suffered the loss in 1.0+ inning of work. Kyle Lewis came in and allowed an unearned run while striking out a pair in the seventh before Marcus Dux gave up one unearned run with one K in the eighth. Fifth-year senior Jack Rosenberg then closed out the day with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, striking out one. 

The Captains will be back in action this Thursday, March 14 at 3:00 p.m. against Randolph-Macon College.