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SALEM, VA. -- The Christopher Newport softball team rallied from six runs down in the bottom of the seventh inning Friday night in an unbelievable NCAA win over ninth-ranked Eastern Connecticut State. CNU's six-run outburst forced extra innings, and the Captains won it in the bottom of the eighth on a Chelsea Mitchell (Mechanicsville, Va.) single scoring Ashley Mani (Chesapeake, Va.), who had walked to open the inning.

The 8-7 triumph was CNU's fifth-straight win in the NCAA tournament following a four-game sweep last weekend in the Salisbury regional.

"I just told them to keep battling," Head Coach Keith Parr said after the amazing win. "A lot of things happened that got us down 7-1, and I just kept telling them to stay up...you've got to keep at it."

The Captains come-from-behind victory on the opening day of the 2011 NCAA Division III Softball National Finals at the Moyer Sports Complex propels them into a 6:30 p.m. game Saturday vs. DePauw (IN). The Tigers needed 10 innings Friday to beat Messiah, 2-1.

Christopher Newport, the only unranked team in the eight-team field, improved to 36-10 on the season. Ninth-ranked Eastern Connecticut State, now 34-6, will play Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in an elimination game vs. Messiah.

The Captains improbable comeback came against a three-time All-American pitcher, ECSU's Molly Rathbun.

"It's been this way a lot this year," senior All-America third baseman Jessie Atkinson (Mechanicsville, Va.) said after the win. "We have fallen behind and come back so many times...it just shows the heart and team work of this team. I have the greatest teammates in the world."

Atkinson helped power the rally in the seventh with a two-run triple, her first triple of the season. She also doubled in the game.

Junior second baseman Jennifer Falin.(Williamsburg, Va.) blasted two home runs, continuing her sizzling post season. Falin opened the CNU scoring with a solo shot in the second inning and then followed Atkinson's triple with a two-run blast in the seventh. The long balls were Falin's 12th and 13th of the season, and came a week after she hit grand slams in back-to-back games at the Salisbury regional.

"We battle 'til the end," Falin said. "We just kept battling. It was amazing."

The seventh inning rally saw the Captains send 11 batters to the plate. Freshman outfielder Kelley Foate (Richmond, Va.) led off by getting hit by a pitch and later tied the game with a two-run single in the very same inning.

Sophomore catcher Chelsea Mitchell (Mechanicsville, Va.) would then end the three-hour marathon by singling home senior Ashley Mani in the bottom of the eighth inning for the game-winning run.
 
"They (ECSU) thought they had it in the bag," Mitchell said. "We just kept coming at them...we stayed fired up."

CNU starting pitcher Krista Townsend (Midlothian, Va.) struggled and allowed four runs over the first five innings. She was relieved by sophomore Elizabeth Holte (Richmond, Va.) who allowed three runs in the top of the seventh inning leading to the Warriors' 7-1 lead, and setting up the remarkable comeback.

"We don't have strikeout pitchers," Parr continued. "Tonight we fell behind but again you have stay up for the stretch."

Holte picked up the win to improve to 9-4 on the season. Rathbun, who allowed more runs than in any game in her illustrious three-year career, falls to 23-2 with the loss.