SALISBURY, MD.- The 2016 Capital Athletic Conference softball championship will come down to the top two seeds. Salisbury, the top seed and ranked fifth in the country, will take on second-seeded and eighth-ranked CNU Saturday. First pitch is set for
10:00 a.m., and the Captains will have to beat the Gulls twice to capture the CAC title for the third straight season.
Christopher Newport bounced back Friday after losing to Salisbury, 7-3, in the first game of the day. The Captains downed third-seeded Frostburg State, 8-0, to knock the Bobcats out of the double-elimination tourney. The win late
Friday afternooncame following storms that moved through the area and held up play for several hours.
CNU jumped to an early lead by posting four first-inning runs and the Captains never looked back. Junior
Tara Heatwole shut down the Bobcats, throwing the complete game shutout while scattering seven hits. Heatwole improved to 15-2 with the victory.
Frostburg State starter Ali Caulkins didn't make it out of the first inning, as the Captains got off to a fast start. Four first inning runs were followed by a single run in the second, two in the fourth, and one more in the seventh.
Senior
Scoop Simon led the attack at the plate, going four-for-four with four singles, three runs batted in, and two runs scored. Sophomore
Brittney Walters drove in three runs with a double and sacrifice fly. Senior
Tori Clarke recorded three hits, as CNU tallied 14 hits off three Frostburg pitchers.
The victory marked the second in as many days for CNU over Frostburg State. The teams met on Thursday, with the Captains coming from behind to post a 4-3 triumph.
Keith Parr's squad is now 34-6, while FSU fell to 26-14.
The Captains will be playing in the CAC title game for the third straight season since joining the conference. CNU has captured the championship the last two seasons while hosting the tournament.
CNU will need to continue its hot hitting to capture the title. The Captains managed just two hits vs. Salisbury in Friday's loss before the bats exploded against the Bobcats. The Captains and Gulls have now met three times this season, and SU has won two of the three meetings.
