Baseball | 3/2/2013 6:03:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Methodist baseball team came up on the short end of a pair of tight contests at No. 5 Christopher Newport on Saturday afternoon. The Monarchs fell, 4-2, in game one, followed by a 7-4 defeat in game two.
 
Methodist is now 7-8 on the season and 4-7 in the USA South, while CNU improves to 13-2-1 overall and 10-1 in conference play.
 
In game one, the fifth-ranked Captains took a 4-0 lead after five innings and held on as the Monarchs halved their deficit in the seventh inning.
 
The Captains opened the scoring in the second inning on Kyle Corwin's RBI single off Aaron O'Neill for a 1-0 lead. CNU made it 3-0 in the third inning courtesy of Travis Younger's two-run double to right, and in the fifth inning, Corwin singled in his second run of the game with a base hit to left.
 
In the seventh inning, back-to-back singles by Stephen Nalls and Will Sutton followed by a sacrifice bunt by David Lutz gave the Monarchs runners on second and third with one out. Following a groundout from Steven Kirby, Travis Johnson hit a two-run single to left to pull MU within a pair at 4-2. 
 
The Monarchs had a chance to get closer in the eighth as MU had the go-ahead run at the plate following a base hit from Tyler Younger and a walk to Will Bushmann, but Matt Verdillo got a strikeout and a fly out to end the inning.
 
Ryan Fleischm struck out the side in the ninth for CNU to nail down the save. Austin Chrismon improved to 3-1 on the season, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in 7.0 innings. O'Neill took the loss, surrendering four runs on eight hits and three walks with four strikeouts in 5.0 innings. Josh Ayers tossed 3.0 innings of scoreless relief for Methodist, giving up four hits without a walk and striking out four.
 
Johnson finished 4-for-5 with a pair of RBIs to lead the Monarchs. Nalls was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
 
Corwin and Preston Grissom both had a pair of base hits for the Captains, and Younger and Corwin each had two RBIs.
 
In the nightcap, CNU tallied four runs in the seventh inning to take a 7-2 lead and once again held off the Monarchs late.
 
Billy Steel gave the Captains a 1-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI single before MU tied the game at 1-1 in the second on Cody Molosky's RBI single to right that scored Nalls.
 
The Monarchs then took a short-lived 2-1 lead in the third fourth inning when Nalls hit a sacrifice fly to center that allowed Buschmann to come home. However, CNU answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame to go back on top, 3-2.
 
In the seventh, Younger and Justin Weaver each drove in two runs with singles as CNU extended its lead to 7-2.
 
Methodist added a pair of runs in the eighth inning, the first coming on a Johnson double to left and the second on a Younger sacrifice fly that made it a 7-4 ballgame.
 
In the ninth, Fleischm worked around a one-out walk to earn his fifth save of the season and set the new USA South career record for saves with 23, breaking the previous mark of 22 held by former MU pitcher, and current assistant coach, Blake Maxwell.
 
Brandon Taylor (3-0) picked up the win for the Captains, allowing two runs on five hits and no walks with seven strikeouts in 7.0 innings. Michael Inman took the loss for Methodist, surrendering seven runs (6 ER) on seven hits and two walks with six strikeouts in 6.2 innings.
 
Molosky was 2-for-4 with an RBI for the Monarchs, he also stole one base. Nalls and Johnson were both 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored.
 
Weaver finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored for CNU, while Younger was 1-for-3 with three RBIs and Steel finished 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
 
The Monarchs and Captains will wrap up their three-game set on Sunday beginning at 1:00 pm.