North Tidewater News

Freshmen Bats Stay Hot as No. 16 Christopher Newport Earns 8-3 Win Over North Carolina Wesleyan

 Led by three multi-hit games by the freshman class, the 16th-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team improved to 17-5 overall this season with an 8-3 win over N.C. Wesleyan (10-4) on Wednesday afternoon. Josh Reinhold (2-3), Sam Benedict (2-3), and Ayden Stuffel (2-4) led the Captains with six of the team's ten hits against the Battling Bishops. 

The visitors jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first but Christopher Newport responded with a three-spot of their own. The Captains then took a two-run lead in the bottom of the second when the aforementioned freshman trio each picked up base hits in the inning. 

Powered by a strong bullpen effort with three relief arms appearing in the game, the Captains held a 5-3 lead for the bulk of the contest. In the bottom of the eighth, CNU tacked on three insurance runs before Danny Checkosky finished out a two-inning save in the 8-3 win. 

Scott Crosson saw a 16-game hitting streak come to a close but still contributed at the plate by walking and scoring a run in the first and adding a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the second inning. Crosson finished 0-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI while extending his on-base streak to 17 games. 

Reinhold continued his incredible performance in his first year by reaching base for the 21st straight game. He wasted no time, singling through the left side in the bottom of the first, putting Crosson in scoring position. Zach Dzarnowski ripped an RBI single up the middle to get the Captains on the board and Justin Bowers and Jake Benedict followed to make it four straight hits. Benedict's rip into right center plated two more runs, scoring Dzarnowski and Reinhold. 

In the bottom of the second, his brother, Sam Benedict, led off with a double into  left field and was followed by Stuffel with a base knock into left center. That would set up Crosson's go-ahead sac fly, making it 4-3. Stuffel then stole second base, getting into scoring position for Reinhold's second base hit of the game with an RBI single up the middle. 

Jack Anderson (2-1) came on in relief in the fourth inning and held onto the 5-3 advantage for three innings of work out of the bullpen to earn the win. He struck out one and worked around a pair of hits and two walks without giving up a run. In the seventh, he handed the ball off to David Gingras, who faced just four batters in a clean inning of his own. 

Checkosky then stepped onto the mound in the eighth and needed just nine pitches to retire the side in order with one strikeout and a pair of fly ball outs. In the ninth, he added another strikeout before N.C. Wesleyan's second baseman Davie Morgan flared a single into left center. A fly ball and a groundout then ended the game as Checkosky picked up his second save of the season. 

The Captains freshmen quartet starting in Wednesday's game combined for seven hits (7-13), five runs, and four RBI -- Reinhold, Stuffel, and the Benedict Brothers led the way offensively. Ethan Weaver and Justin Bowers each posted a 1-for-3 outing at the plate while Weaver worked a walk and Bowers reached on a HBP. 

On Thursday, Christopher Newport will travel to Ashland, Va. to take on 14th-ranked Randolph-Macon College at 3:00 p.m. 

Original source can be found here