The University of Mary Washington baseball team took down its seventh ranked opponent this season in No. 24 Christopher Newport on Saturday afternoon, 7-6, to clinch home field advantage in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament later next week.
The Eagles jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third inning when
George Rizzo dropped down a bunt single to score
Sean Smith, 1-0. But the Captains scored a pair of runs in the fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead.
UMW tied the game in the fourth inning on
Eric Powell's sac fly to tie the game at a two runs apiece. A three-run fifth gave CNU the lead right back, 5-2, but the Eagles struck for three in the bottom of the sixth that started like this:
Collin Clarkson was hit by a pitch, then
Connor Hassan walked. A
William Tuttle walk later loaded the bases after a pitching change before
Ryan Henson doubled home three runs to tie the score at five even.
And in the eighth, UMW struck for a pair of runs to re-take the lead and the game.
Eric Powell led the inning off with an infield single before Tuttle popped up to third. With an out, Henson doubled down the left field line before Powell scored on a wild pitch to give the Eagles their first lead since the third inning.
Sean Smith drew a four-pitch walk before
Cole Powers drove in Henson with a ground out to second base to give the Eagles their much-needed insurance run.
In the ninth, CNU was able to scratch a run across, but that was all it would muster as
Matthew Boyd shut the door on CNU to give the Eagles another ranked victory.
The Eagles are back in action on Thursday against Regent in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference semifinals. With a victory, the Eagles would host Salisbury or CNU next Saturday for the championship game.
