NEWPORT NEWS, Va.- Christopher Newport's softball season came to a close Saturday, as the tenth-ranked Captains dropped back-to-back games to 11th-ranked Messiah at Captains Park. The Falcons won the opener, 6-1, and then pulled out the nightcap, 5-4, to advance to the Super Regionals of the NCAA Tournament.
CNU's season comes to a close with a 35-9 final record. Messiah improved to 42-3 with the wins, and the Falcons have now won 18 straight games. Messiah will play in the round of 16 next weekend.
Keith Parr's squad led just once all day, a 1-0 advantage in the early innings of the opening game, and stranded 16 runners on base in the twin bill (eight in each game).
Messiah, Champions of the MAC Commonwealth, used a five-run third inning in the opener to pull away and defeat the Captains, 6-1. The Falcons pulled out the nightcap in dramatic fashion with a run scoring with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning on a wild pitch to post the 5-4 triumph.
CNU starting pitchers
Tara Heatwole and
Hanah Marshall took the losses. Heatwole, a junior, went the distance in the opener, allowing six runs on 11 hits in six innings of work. She ends the season with a 16-5 record. Marshall, a senior, gave up five runs on eight hits in six and two-thirds innings of work. She finishes with a 7-3 mark. Marshall's wild pitch over the head of senior catcher
Hannah Cook allowed Messiah's Madelyn Yanetti to score from third base with the winning run to close out the regional.
The Captains had battled from behind to tie the game twice in the nightcap. After Messiah grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning, Cook smacked a two-run home run in the third inning to even the game at 2-2. After the Falcons re-claimed the lead at 4-2, CNU bounced back again with two runs in the sixth to tie the score at 4-4. Sophomore
Leah Andrews and Cook each singled home runs in the top of the sixth for Christopher Newport.
Senior Courtney Allen of the Falcons held the Captains to just one run on five hits in the opener and improved her record to 24-0 on the season. Allen then threw the first five and two-thirds innings of game two before being relieved by Yanetti, who pitched the final inning and a third to earn the win to go to 9-1 for the year.
CNU seniors
Meagan Jones and
Hannah Cook as well as junior
Brittney Walters were named to the all-tournament team. Jones was four-for-seven in the twin bill, while Cook was two-for-two with three runs batted in in the second game. Walters was three-for-ten in the regional and scored three times.
Messiah freshman first baseman Erin Cressman was selected the MVP of the regional. Cressman was three-for-three in the first game Saturday and smacked her 11th home run of the season for the Falcons.
The losses put an end to the playing careers of five CNU seniors. Seniors
Scoop Simon,
Hannah Cook,
Meagan Jones,
Hanah Marshall, and
Tori Clarke were all recognized prior to the start of the doubleheader Saturday. Commencement exercises at CNU took place Saturday morning prior to the start of the regional action.
Christopher Newport, Messiah, and Ferrum made up the three-team Newport News regional. Ferrum fell twice in the double-elimination regional on Friday, losing to both Messiah and CNU, to finish the season with a 27-18 final record.
The losses give CNU an all-time record of 29-28 in NCAA play. The Captains were appearing in their tenth straight NCAA Tournament, and 14th all-time in the 32-year history of the Christopher Newport softball program.
