Baseball Splits A Doubleheader With NC Wesleyan

NEWPORT NEWS, VA - Christopher Newport's baseball split a doubleheader with NC Wesleyan to close out the regular season conference slate Sunday afternoon at Captains Park.

CNU took game one, 3-2. The Captains scored twice in the first. Mike Giarrizzi reached on an error and Rob Quinn followed with a single. Both runners advanced a base on John Corbin's sacrifice bunt. Ryan McDougal followed with a RBI ground out, scoring Giarrizzie and Quinn advanced to third. Quinn came around to score on Trey Collier's single to go up 2-0.

The Bishops cut the lead in half to 2-1with a run in the sixth.

CNU extended its lead to 3-1 with a run in the eighth. With two outs, McDougal singled and Jayson Basanes followed with a single as well. Michael Fawley hit for Collier and and singled as well to load the bases. McDougal came around to score on a balk.

NC Wesleyan mounted a comeback in the ninth. They scored one run on a sacrifice fly but McDougal shut the door, getting the final out on a strikeout.

Collier finished 2-for-3 while Giarrizzi, Quinn, Basanes, McDougal, Robinson and Fawley each added one hit in the win.

Chad Blanchard tossed five solid innings to pick up his third win. He allowed no runs on six hits and struck out four. Cary Bruner pitched two innings in relief, allowing one run on two hits. McDougal threw the final two, giving up one run on two hits and struck out two to pick up his second save.

NC Wesleyan salvaged the series by winning game three 5-1. The Bishops scored two in the third, two in the fifth and one in the ninth. CNU scored its only run in the bottom of the ninth on a run scoring error.

Basanes finished 3-for-4 while Corbin was 2-for-4. Giarrizzi and Quinn each had one hit in the loss.

Eben Brower went six innings, giving up four runs on 12 hits and struck out two. Steven Mingee pitched the final three innings, giving up one run on three hits and struck out three.

Christopher Newport is now 15-14 overall and 9-9 in the USA South. CNU returns to action Wednesday for game one of the USA South Conference Tournament. The Captains, the fifth-seed, will play Greensboro, the fourth-seed at 9:30 am.

Game one box
Game two box