NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Southern Virginia University Baseball team (7-9, 0-3) took on Christopher Newport University (19-6, 0-0) in a midweek non-conference battle Tuesday afternoon, coming up just short against the No. 18 ranked team.
It didn't take long for the hosts to get on the board, with Zach Dzarnowski reaching home from second on a single to center field by Jake Benedict.
Stockton Hall got the Knights out of a bind, striking out Alec Reilly with runners on the corners to end the inning.
Carson Bybee came into pitch in the next inning, making quick work of the bottom of the second, forcing a fly out and back-to-back ground outs.
The Knights looked to get on the board in the top of the third, getting runners on first and second after a pitch hit
Robert Stempin and
Seth Lloyd singled up the middle. On the next at-bat,
Will Parker grounded into a double play, keeping the score 1-0.
Southern Virginia continued rotating through its pitchers, with Rock Giles at the mound in the third inning and
Owen Smiley in the fourth, with neither allowing a hit.
The Captains had some success in the bottom of the fifth, adding to the lead after a Josh Reinhold single brought in Daniel Elliott made the score 2-0.
After scoring in the previous inning, Elliot added two RBI on a single up the middle to increase the advantage to four in the bottom of the sixth.
The Knights tightened up defensively in the final two innings. Still, they could not generate any offense against the outstanding pitching from the Captains, leading to a 4-0 triumph for the home team.
Southern Virginia returns to conference play, traveling to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, to take on NC Wesleyan in a three-game series beginning on Friday, March 24.
For all the most up-to-date information regarding Southern Virginia University baseball, please visit knightathletics.com and follow @knight_bsb on Instagram.
