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BURLINGTON, N.C. — Fourth-seeded Christopher Newport University held off fifth-seeded Ferrum College for a 10-8 victory in the opening round of the USA South Conference Tournament on Thursday morning at Burlington Athletic Stadium.
Christopher Newport (19-12) will play again at 1:30 p.m. on Friday at Burlington Athletic Stadium. Ferrum (18-12) will face elimination later Thursday when it plays No. 1 seed N.C. Wesleyan College (17-17) at 8 p.m. at Burlington Athletic Stadium.
The Captains' offense gave its pitching staff plenty of run support, which paid off after Ferrum rallied in the late innings. Christopher Newport led 9-1 after seven innings, but the Panthers fought back to within two runs after a six-run eighth inning.
CNU got one of those runs back in the bottom of the eighth and held Ferrum to just one run in the top of the ninth to escape with the victory.
Christopher Newport benefited several times from Ferrum's defensive problems. The Captains took a 2-0 lead in the first inning with the help of one of three Ferrum errors on the day. The Captains got a one-out single from Drue Vernon, and Luke Saunders followed with a fly ball to deep center field that was misplayed. Vernon advanced to third as Saunders made it to second base on the error. Ferrum left-hander Brian Mays got a strikeout for out two, but CNU's Steven Lindemuth drove in Vernon and Saunders with a single to left-center.
Ferrum answered with a run in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by Sammy Holloway to cut the Captains' lead to 2-1.
CNU extended its lead back to two runs when another Panthers error led to an RBI sacrifice fly by Michael Romett in the bottom of the fourth.
The Captains scored their fourth unearned run of the game to take a 4-1 lead in the fifth inning. Connor Madden singled to third base, but an errant throw allowed him to advance to second. Madden then moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt and later scored on Vernon's RBI single to left field.
Madden helped add to Christopher Newport's lead in the sixth inning. The Captains' left fielder smacked a three-run homer to left-center to increase their advantage to 7-1. CNU added two more runs in the seventh, which proved to be very beneficial.
Ferrum rallied for six runs in the top of the eighth to chop Christopher Newport's lead down to 9-7. The Panthers got six of their 12 hits in that frame, which included a two-run double by Charles Beacom. Although the big inning helped the Panthers pull within striking distance, the tough start was too much to overcome.
Vernon, Steven Lindemuth and Madden each had two hits for Christopher Newport. Lindemuth had a team-high three RBIs.
Josh Brinkman (5-3) earned the win, striking out eight in seven-plus innings of work.
Jason Butterworth, Justin Franklin, Caleb Dorton and D.J. Phillips each had a pair of hits for the Panthers.
