NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (Courtesy of CNU Athletics) — One day after a 7-2 win against North Carolina Wesleyan led the 10th-ranked Christopher Newport baseball team into the regional final, the Battling Bishops responded by winning twice on Sunday, eliminating Immaculata in the consolation final before taking down the Captains, 6-1, to force a winner-takes-all regional title match on Monday morning at 11:00 a.m. The Captains (28-10) stranded 14 baserunners in the loss as the Bishops improved to 36-12 with the victory.
The nationally-ranked showdown for the NCAA Newport News Regional title will be played at Captains Park on Monday morning, wrapping the four-day double-elimination tournament in game seven. The two teams have matched up four times already this season, splitting a pair of regular season matchups before each team also picked up one win apiece in the postseason tournament.
On Sunday, the Captains called on senior starter Jack Braley (3-1) in the regional final and, for the second year in a row, the veteran put together an outstanding postseason pitching performance. Braley struck out three over the first three innings while allowing just one hit. In the fourth, North Carolina Wesleyan scratched one run across against the Captains’ starter with a little small ball after a lead-off single, sacrifice bunt, and RBI single. After the run, Braley limited the damage, though, and retired the the next five batters in a row to close out his day with one run allowed on three hits over 5.0 innings pitched.
Unfortunately for CNU, he would end up the hard-luck loser in the game despite a strong effort on the hill. The Captains offense led off six of the nine innings at the dish with a baserunner, but finished the game without enough timely hits to bring those runners around. Jake Benedict led off the second with a double and was stranded. In the third and fourth frames, the Bishops wiggled out of trouble with back-to-back inning ending double plays after Scott Crosson and Lincoln Lubsen led off with singles.
Perhaps their best chance of the game, the Captains loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth inning when Justin Liakos singled and Eric Wilson was hit by a pitch. After Sam Benedict executed his 15th career sacrifice bunt to put a pair in scoring position with only one out. The Bishops called on a reliever to close out the inning and Marc Dennunzio (1-0) managed to get out of the jam with the bases loaded.
After the key defensive stand, the Bishops rallied for three runs in the top of the sixth to take a 4-0 lead. They took advantage of four hits and a pair of CNU errors in the inning.
Sam Benedict reached to lead off botht he seventh and ninth innings as the CNU offense continued to create opportunities. In the ninth, he walked, and moved up on a wild pitch. With two outs, the Captains offense mounted a mini-rally, trailing 6-0, as Zach Dzarnowski drove in a run with a single into right field. Lincoln Lubsen then ripped a single through the right side and Ayden Stuffel walked to load the bases. Unfortunately, the late-game heroics would end there, as the N.C. Wesleyan pitching staff ended the game with a groundball back to the pitcher.
In the game, Peter Hoenig, Colin D’Arcy, Marcus Dux, and Ryan Morrison pitched for the Captains. D’Arcy had the best showing out of the bullpen, striking out a pair over 2.1 scoreless innings of relief. Morrison also stopped the bleeding in the top of the ninth by retiring the lone batter he faced.
Christopher Newport will now attempt to reach the NCAA Super Regionals on Monday with the next chapter in the longest rivalry in program history. The two teams will be the 107th game in the all-time series with the Battling Bishops owning a 59-47 advantage in the matchup.