Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Game 1:  Box Score in HTML Format  ||  Box Score in PDF Format
Game 2:  Box Score in HTML Format  ||  Box Score in PDF Format

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The 21st-ranked Christopher Newport softball team ran its win streak to six games on Wednesday, traveling to familiar foes in Meredith College (3-9) and sweeping a doubleheader against their former conference mates. The Captains (7-3) shut out the Avenging Angels in the first game, 3-0, and cruised to a 7-1 victory in the second. 

Sophomore Alexis Pope and senior Candice Zollars led the Captains' strong performance offensively, each leading the team with four hits in the doubleheader. 

In game one, CNU sophomore pitcher Krista Lewis (5-1) picked up her first complete game shutout as she twirled a four-hitter against the Angels. Lewis allowed just four singles while striking out three, and lowered her season ERA to 1.31. 

The Captains jumped on the board in the second inning, when Pope blasted a solo home run to left field. Then, in the fourth, CNU tacked on two more insurance runs Tori Clarke walked and later scored on an error, and Kelsey Lewis singled through the right side to plate Pope, who had singled earlier in the frame. 

Pope was 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored to lead the way in game one. 

In the second game, sophomore Hanah Marshall (2-2) took the pitching circle and like her classmate, spun a gem to pick up the complete game victory. She allowed seven hits, all singles, and one run, while striking out five. Meredith struck first, scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom half of the fiirst inning, but that would be the only run Marshall would surrender en route to victory. 

Offensively, CNU got to Amanda Beirn (3-7), who started both games for the Avenging Angels, in the fourth inning. Beirn held a 1-0 lead for the first three innings, but CNU scored four in the top half of the fourth to take the lead for good. Clarke reached on an infield error, and Pope followed with a single. Kristina McLaughlin loaded the bases with a hit-by-pitch, sending rookie Jenna Sprinkle to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Sprinkle smoked a double to center field, clearing the bases for a three-RBI knock. She would come arount o score when Meagan Jones singled to center. 

Karlee Holzbach added a sacifice fly in the fifth, and CNU scored two more in the seventh when Holzbach drove in a run and later scored on an error. The Captains finished with nine hits in the game, led by three multi-hit performances. 

Zollars was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and McLaughlin added a 2-for-3 performance. Sprinkle had just one hit, in two at-bats, but drove in a team-best three runs with the key double. 

CNU will return to action this weekend at the Roanoke Softball Bash in Salem, Va. The Captains were originally scheduled to play at the Sea Gull Invitational in Salisbury, Md., but weather cancelled that tournament and CNU scrambled to find games in Virginia. Game times and opponents will be posted at CNUsports.com.