BURLINGTON, N.C. – Christopher Newport forced a final game at the 2010 USA South Conference baseball Tournament with a 5-4 win over previously undefeated No. 9 Shenandoah Sunday afternoon.

CNU (22-13) led the entire way, but had to hold on as SU (32-7) had the tying run in scoring position in each of its last three at-bats.

The loss also snaps a nine-game winning streak for the Hornets.

Christopher Newport scored its initial run by combining two hits and a groundout. Shannon Mark led off with a single through the right side, advanced to third on a double and scored when Parker Neal grounded out to short.

Drue Vernon gave the Captains a second run with an RBI single in the second and CNU made it 4-1 in the fifth as Ben Lenda homered to right off of Hornets starter Ben Hendrickson (3-1).

Shenandoah used the long ball to chip away at the lead, scoring single runs in the third, fifth, seventh and eighth.

Kevin Brashears, who finished 2 for 3, scored the second run when Jon Holcomb doubled into the right center gap and plated the final two runs on a solo home run and a double down the leftfield line in the seventh and eighth, respectively.

SU, which left 11 men on base, had the tying run in scoring position in the first, fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings. In the first and fifth, the Hornets left the bases loaded and lined into an inning-ending double play in the seventh.

Josh Brinkman, who threw 7.0 innings of the Captains day one victory, improved to 2-0 in the tournament and 6-3 on the year by throwing 7.0 innings Sunday. Brinkman struck out nine before turning it over to Chris Malvagna at the start of the eighth. Malvagna allowed one run on three hits to post his fifth save.

Greg Van Sickler, who started at the fourth different position (leftfield) in four games for Shenandoah, had a game-high four hits in five at-bats. In addition to starting today's game in left, Van Sickler has played first base, pitched and served as the team's designated hitter during the tournament.

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