MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- The Christopher Newport infield turned three double plays behind starting pitcher Chase Hustead (1-1) as the 11th-ranked Captains rolled by Saint Elizabeth, 8-2, at the Ripken Experience in Myrtle Beach, S.C. on Sunday. Thanks to the stellar defense, Hustead faced just two batters over the minimum through eight innings of work to earn his first career win with the Captains. 

Through the first five innings against the Eagles, Hustead allowed just two baserunners and erased both of them on the basepaths to face just 15 batters. In the top of the second, Saint Elizabeth reached on a hit-by-pitch but two pitches later, Hustead induced the first of three double plays on the day. Then, in the third inning he allowed a leadoff single but his battery mate, Will Pellegrino, kept the impressive start rolling by catching the runner stealing. 

In the fourth and fifth, Hustead took the lead with three strikeouts and two groundballs before Saint Elizabeth finally stranded a runner in the sixth. Even then, though, an inning-ending double play limited the Eagles to just one batter more than the minimum as Doc Daniels touched the bag at second and fired over to first to end the inning. 

With the pitching and defense keeping Saint Elizabeth off the board, the Captains' offense scored two runs in the first and two more in the fifth. Jake Benedict walked and stole second and was followed by a one-out walk and steal from Josh Reinhold. Benedict raced home on a wild pitch and Daniels delivered an RBI single up the middle to cap the early inning scoring. 

In the fifth, Benedict led off again and ripped a double down the right field line to put himself in scoring position. Reinhold singled through the left side and picked up an RBI to give the Captains a 3-0 lead. He then stole second and third before scoring on a throwing error. 

CNU tacked on two more in the sixth inning when Eric Wilson and Benedict walked in back-to-back plate appearances. After a groundball by Sam Benedict moved the runners up, it was Reinhold at the dish with two in scoring position again. For the second at-bat in a row, Reinhold came through with another RBI single, plating two more runs for the Captains. 

Holding a big lead with Hustead rolling through the middle innings, the Captains added two more insurance runs in the seventh inning to cap the offensive production. Stone Lasseigne led off with a pinch hit single into left field and moved up to second on a two-out hit-by-pitch by Pellegrino. Grant Hartman then stepped in with a pinch hit and pounded a two-out, two-run double into left field. 

Hustead went on to pitch through the eighth inning, facing just three batters in his final inning again. The first batter rolled into a groundball out before the second singled through the right side. On the next pitch, and the final toss from Hustead in the game, another groundball closed out the inning with a 6-4-3 double play. The CNU junior finished with 8.0 innings pitched, four hits allowed and four strikeouts. He did not surrender a run or a walk in the game while facing just 26 batters. 

Connor Barry came on to finish out the game on the mound for CNU, making his first career appearance. Barry gave up two runs but also snagged his first career strikeout. 

Reinhold led the offense with a 2-for-4 effort, 2 runs and 3 RBI. Daniels was 2-for-2 with an RBI and a HBP, reaching in all three of his plate appearances. 

With the win, Christopher Newport improved to 7-3 on the season and will close out the Spring Break trip to Myrtle Beach on Monday at 11:00 a.m. against Neumann University.