April 19, 2008
Christopher Newport advances to finals against NC Wesleyan

BURLINGTON, NC – Three runs scored in the third inning gave the Captains of Christopher Newport University the advantage that they would hold on to, defeating the Monarchs of Methodist University 8-3 to advance to USA South Tournament finals against NC Wesleyan College.

In the bottom of the first inning, Methodist (25-14-1) grabbed an early lead after Mike Twitchell was hit by a pitch to lead off inning, and then Scott Russell homered to take the early 2-0 lead.

In the top of the third, CNU’s (25-9) Mike Giarrizzi hit a solo homer to left field to cut the score to 2-1. Then, Alex Owen reached on a Monarch error and Trae Bailey hit a line-drive homer to left field, giving CNU the lead 3-2.

In the sixth inning, Owen led off the inning with a single through the left side. He moved to third on a Bailey double, and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Chris Despins, moving Christopher Newport’s lead to 4-2.

The Captains expanded on the lead more in the eighth inning. Giarrizzi led off with a single, and eventually scored when Bailey hit a single to right field. Despins later doubled putting runners on second and third, then Ryan McDougal ripped a triple to right-center field to score both runners, putting the score at 7-2.

CNU added one more in the ninth after Travis Medina drew a walk and scored on a single from Owen. Methodist attempted the rally in the bottom of the ninth, crossing one run. Tripp Lancaster hit a single to reach, and then scored on a double down the left field line from Billy Quinn. The rally fell short however, and the game ended with CNU on top 8-3.

Bailey and Giarrizzi each had three hits for the Captains, with Bailey adding three RBI’s and two runs, and Giarrizzi bringing one RBI and two runs. Kyle Baumann picked up his third win on the season, with 8.0 innings pitched and six strikeouts.

For the Monarchs, Russell had two hits, two RBI’s and one run scored, whild Lancaster added two hits and one run. Fred Geisinger took the loss with 7.1 innings pitched with three strikeouts.

Methodist drops out of the tournament with the loss, while Christopher Newport advances to the finals against NC Wesleyan.

Box Score