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RALEIGH, N.C. -- The sixth-ranked Christopher Newport softball team lost in extra innings on Tuesday, falling 6-5 in nine to USA South foe Meredith College (3-4, 1-0). The Captains fall to 7-2 overall, 2-1 against the league, despite seven hits and 11 walks in the game. The second game of the doubleheader was cancelled in the second inning due to darkness.

Sophomore Sabrina Hill put the Captains on top early in the game, when she hit her second home run of the year, a two-run shot. Kelley Foate scored on the homer, after reaching on a hit by pitch. 

Lorri Cole tied things up in the bottom of the first with a two-run double for the Avenging Angels, but CNU re-took the lead in the second. Tori Clarke walked and moved up to second on a walk by Meagan Jones. After a double steal, Clarke came home on a wild pitch for a 3-2 lead. The Captains again took advantage of another free pass in the top of the third, as Amber Arevalo hit an RBI single to score Chelsea  Mitchell on the play. 

Meredith would answer with a run in the third and another in the fourth, though, to tie things up at 4. That would be the score through seven forcing extra innings in the first game of a doubleheader. In the top of the eighth, the Captains loaded the bases and got an RBI walk from Mitchell to take the lead. The Angels would tie it up again, though, scoring in the bottom half of the eighth on a Sara Cranford RBI single.

That would set up the game-winning ninth, we CNU stranded runners on second and third in the top half. Meredith loaded the bases with nobody out and won with a walk-off walk by Alex Warren. 

Krista Townsend (2-1) suffered the loss after 4.2 innings of relief. Whitney Haller started the game, giving up four runs in 3.2 innings pitched. For Meredith, senior Amanda Bierne managed a complete game victory, despite 11 walks and seven hits allowed. 

Offensively, Hill's two-run homer highlighted the afternoon, and she finished with a 2-for-5 day.

In the second game, Kelley Foate started the game 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored, but with the game tied at 2-2 and darkness setting in, the game was called early. 

CNU will now face a tough weekend at the NFCA Division III Leadoff Classic from March 8-10. The Captains take on Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Cortland State and DePauw, along with three games yet to be determined.