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NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Saturday's Championship of the Capital Athletic Conference Softball Tournament proved to be a tight battle, but the Captains of Christopher Newport managed to slip past upset-minded Mary Washington, 4-3. CNU captured the CAC title for the third time in four years of conference membership, and the Captains will advance to the NCAA Tournament in May for the 11th straight season and 15th time in program history.
Keith Parr's squad jumped to a 4-1 lead in Saturday morning's title tilt, but saw the fifth-seeded Eagles bounce back to cut the advantage to one, 4-3. Parr summoned freshman pitcher
Aubrey Bates from the bullpen in relief of starter
Maiven McKnight in the fifth inning, and Bates proceeded to slam the door shut on Mary Washington's hopes. Bates retired all nine batters she faced, striking out six, to earn her second save of the season and has now not allowed a run in 21 straight innings of work.
"I'm just really proud of our team and the way they have come together," Parr said following the championship game. "We've been able to win some really big games down the stretch, and today you saw us win a tight game just as we did with Frostburg State yesterday. I'm very happy for the whole team, and especially our four seniors, to be heading to the NCAA's again."
Christopher Newport grabbed the lead with two runs in the bottom of the first as freshman
Liz Andrews drove home freshman
Grace Wild with a single to center. Andrews later scored on a wild pitch from UMW starter Erin Stinson, who lasted just two-thirds of an inning thanks to three walks and a hit batter in the frame.
Mary Washington cut the lead in half in the second on the first home run of the season from second baseman Kristen Lundquist. The 2-1 score held up until the home half of the third inning, when the Captains added two more. Junior
Brittney Walters hit a line drive down the third base line that was knocked down, but bounced into foul territory, allowing both
Liz Andrews and pinch-runner
Abby Eichelberger to come across the plate and push the Captains advantage to 4-1.
As they had all through the three-day tournament, the Eagles again bounced back. Mary Washington scored two runs in the top of the fourth on an infield hit from third baseman Courtney Shea with the bases loaded, cutting the lead to 4-3. It would be all the Eagles could muster, and Bates came on in relief of McKnight to finish with a flourish.
McKnight, who worked the first four innings, improved her record to 10-1 on the season. She allowed three runs on five hits, and has now matched her same record of a year ago. The Fredericksburg native, who transferred to CNU from North Carolina A&T, is now 20-2 in the circle for the Captains.
CNU managed to claim the championship despite just four hits in the title game, and the Captains left seven runners on base. Christopher Newport was held hitless over the last three innings by Kara Deppe, who entered in the first inning in relief of Stinson, who took the loss to fall to 6-13 on the year.
Christopher Newport is now 31-8 and the Captains have won eight straight games, including all three in the double-elimination tournament at Captains Park. Mary Washington concludes the season with a 25-20 mark, and the Eagles ended up 3-2 in the tournament, with both losses coming to the Captains. Dee Conway's UMW squad ousted York and Frostburg State from the field with come-from-behind victories on Friday.
In addition to playing in the NCAA Tournament for the 11th straight season, the Captains will be making their 15th overall appearance in the tourney. 2017 is the 33rd season of CNU softball. Christopher Newport will be heading to the tournament with three pitchers over the ten-win mark.
Aubrey Bates (11-2),
Maiven McKnight (10-1), and
Tara Heatwole (10-5) have led the way in the circle for CNU.
The field for the 2017 NCAA Softball Championship will be announced on Monday, May 8th, with play beginning on Thursday, May 11th.
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