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BURLINGTON, N.C. — Fourth-seeded Christopher Newport University shut down third-seeded Shenandoah University late to force a title-deciding game in Sunday's USA South Conference championship matchup at Burlington Athletic Stadium.
Christopher Newport reliever Chris Malvagna kept Shenandoah (32-7) scoreless in its final at-bat in the bottom of the ninth to seal the narrow win over the Hornets, who were previously unbeaten in the tournament. Because of the double-elimination format, the two teams will play again at 4 p.m. with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
Christopher Newport (22-13), which lost to Shenandoah 19-5 a day earlier, jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Shannon Mark led off with a single and later came around to score on Parker Neal's groundout to shortstop. A good defensive play kept that lead intact in the bottom half of the inning. The Hornets had a runner on third that tried to score on a ball hit to third base, but Luke Saunders' throw was in time at the plate for the tag out.
The Captains added a second run in the second inning, but the damage could have been much worse following Drue Vernon's RBI single. Shenandoah got out of the jam by inducing a 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded to end the inning.
The Hornets cut CNU's lead to 2-1 in the third inning on Greg Van Sickler's school-record 21st double of the season, which scored Jon Holcomb from first base.
Christopher Newport increased its lead to 4-1 with a two-out rally in the fifth inning. Steven Lindemuth reached a single and Ben Lenda followed with a two-run homer off the scoreboard in right field.
Shenandoah got one of those runs back in its half of the inning. Kevin Brashears drew a walk and scored on Holcomb's double to the fence in right field. The Hornets continued to load the bases with only one out, but CNU right-hander Josh Brinkman got a strikeout and a groundout to end the threat.
The Hornets avoided more trouble in the top of the seventh. Shenandoah intentionally walked Michael Romett to load the bases with two outs, and reliever Brian Fream got a groundball that led to a force out at third base for the third out.
Shenandoah used the momentum from that big stop to close the gap to 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh. Brashears led off with a solo home run to right field to pull the Hornets within one.
CNU's Saunders nearly gave the Captains three more runs with a blast to deep left field, but Van Sickler batted the wind to make the catch on the warning track. CNU instead settled for just one run in the eighth inning on an RBI single by Neal to put the Captains up 5-3. That run proved to be crucial as Shenandoah pulled back within one run on Brashears' RBI double down the left field line in the bottom half of the inning.
After Shenandoah held the Captains scoreless in the top of the ninth, Van Sickler got a one-out single in the bottom of the inning. Although he advanced to second base on a wild pitch, the Hornets couldn't get him home to tie the game.
Brinkman (6-3), pitching on only two days rest after going seven-plus innings in a win over Ferrum College on Thursday, went seven innings against Shenandoah. He allowed just three runs on eight hits with nine strikeouts to earn the win. Malvagne finished the game to earn his fifth save.
