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SALEM, Va. -- In the top of the sixth inning, a lightning delay pushed the clock past Noon, and for the Captains Cinderella story, it also struck midnight. The top-ranked Linfield Wildcats (51-3) came back from the delay with a four-run inning and defeated Christopher Newport University (38-12), 6-2, to win the 2011 NCAA Div. III Softball National Championship.

The improbable run by the unranked Captains was halted by the Wildcats, but not before advancing further into the NCAA Tournament than any other team in school history. The 2011 Captains join the 2003 baseball team as the only teams in school history to reach the national championship game.

"I'm very proud of our team," said head coach Keith Parr. "We played a lot of great teams and overcame a lot to get here. We knew we had to play a great game today and we just came up short. Linfield is a great program and they certainly deserve the championship."

In the winner-takes-all final game of the season, sophomore Krista Townsend was called on to pitch for CNU and did a tremendous job for the Captains. The second-year player, who pitched a record 13 innings in the NCAA Tournament win against No. 2 Emory last week, was asked to keep the nation's top offense at bay in today's national championship.

"She's pitched great in the second half of the year," said Parr. "She threw the ball very well today and gave us a chance to win. She made a good pitch on the ball that went out, the wind just got a hold of it."

Townsend held Linfield to just four hits and two unearned runs in the first five innings, striking out seven before the rain delay. After over an hour on the bench, though, Townsend surrendered a lead-off home run in the bottom of the sixth, followed by a single, sacrifice bunt and another single as the Wildcats grabbed a 4-2 lead. Two more runs would cross the plate in the inning for the final score, 6-2, as Elizabeth Holte came on in relief.

With two quick outs in the seventh, freshman Kristina McLaughlin drilled a double to the center field fence, but the Captains comeback, for seemingly the first time this postseason, would be for naught, as Linfield's Lauren Harvey retired the final batter on a pop-up.

McLaughlin led the way offensively for the Captains, going 3-for-4 in the national championship game with two singles and a double. Another freshman, Kelley Foate, scored one of the two runs for CNU, while senior Ashley Mani crossed the plate for the Captains to tie the game in the fourth inning. Sophomore catcher Chelsea Mitchell singled home the first RBI while senior All-American Jessie Atkinson also had an RBI with a groundout.

Mitchell, Mani and Jennifer Falin were all named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team. Falin led the tournament with three home runs, Mani was named to the team for the second straight year and Mitchell was pegged to her second All-Tournament team this postseason.

"There's so many things that teams have to go through to get this far -- a lot of things have to go your way to win a title," Parr said. "We have great leaders on this team and we've got a lot returning, I just couldn't be more proud of them."

The senior leader, Jessie Atkinson, echoed her head coach's sentiments: "We deserve to be here. Every single person in the dugout and in the lineup was important to this team. We struggled at the beginning of the year, but we really rallied, and I'm proud to be a part of this team."

Linfield improves to 51-3, setting a new Division III mark for wins in a season, besting the previous record of 48. Christopher Newport's record falls to 38-12 for the year with a 7-2 mark in NCAA Tournament action, including a streak of seven straight wins over nationally ranked opponents.