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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport opened play in the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament Thursday with a 9-0 triumph over Mary Washington at Captains Park. The Captains, top-seeded in the five-team field, wrapped up the game on a walk-off, two-run home run from junior Rachael Payne in the bottom of the sixth inning...putting a stop to the action due to the eight-run rule.

CNU is now 29-8 on the season and will play Frostburg State Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. at Captains Park. The Bobcats are 24-13 after beating Salisbury on Thursday, 8-3. The matchup Friday morning will be the first of three games scheduled for the second day of the three-day tournament. Salisbury, winners of the CAC Tournament last season and 18 times in the last 20 seasons, was the first team knocked out Thursday afternoon, losing to York, 8-7, to fall for the second time on the opening day. The Sea Gulls season ended with a mark of 21-17.

Christopher Newport jumped to an early lead with two runs in the first inning and never looked back. The Captains added a single run in the second, then plated four in the fourth before Payne's walk-off two-run shot in the sixth, her third home run of the season.

Freshman Aubrey Bates threw all six innings for the Captains, and allowed no runs on just two hits and struck out nine. She improved to 11-2 on the season..

Senior Jenna Sprinkle drove home the two runs in the first frame, with a single to center scoring freshman Grace Wild and Payne. Senior Rachael Shiflett, who was three-for-three, drove home the second-inning run with a single scoring pinch-runner Abby Eichelberger to make it a 3-0 CNU lead.

CNU's four-run fourth inning saw the Captains bring nine batters to the plate, and was highlighted by four straight singles to open the frame. Christopher Newport finished the game with nine runs on 13 hits, and every starter had at least one hit for the Captains.

In three victories this season over Mary Washington, the Captains have out-scored the Eagles by a 28-3 margin, and all three games have been stopped due to the eight-run rule.

The Eagles, who had beaten York earlier in the day by a 4-0 margin, will play the Spartans again Friday at 12:00 p.m. in an elimination game. UMW is now 23-19, while York is 28-14 after ousting Salisbury.

A victory Friday morning by the Captains would advance them to the conference title game on Saturday. CNU is just one victory shy of hitting the 30-win plateau for the 11th straight season.

Video and live stats of Friday's action at Captains Park will again be available at CNUSports.com/live.