UNION, N.J. - Christopher Newport and Kean will play a second and deciding game in the Union Regional Monday afternoon. The Captains, ranked 11th in the nation, held off the host Cougars, 3-2, to send the double-elimination tournament to a second game final.

Senior Maiven McKnight threw a complete game for the Captains, allowing two runs on 11 hits. McKnight stranded ten Kean baserunners, including two in the bottom of the seventh inning, and recorded her only strikeout of the day for the game's final out. She improved her record to 11-1 on the season with the victory.

Liz Andrews, the Freshman of the Year in the Capital Athletic Conference, delivered the key hit for CNU. In the top of the fifth inning with the Captains trailing, 2-1, Andrews smacked a single to right-center field with the bases loaded, scoring both junior Leah Andrews and freshman Grace Wild, to put the Captains ahead 3-2.

From there, McKnight wiggled out of jams in both the sixth and seventh innings to preserve the victory.

Leah Andrews drove in the Captains first run of the day with an RBI single in the third inning, scoring pinch-runner Abby Eichelberger to give CNU a 1-0 lead. Kean then jumped ahead in the bottom of the third with two runs on a double by Dana Knapp, 2-1.Shannon McMahon went the distance for the Cougars allowing three runs on eight hits and took the loss.

Christopher Newport is now 34-9 while Kean falls to 35-8. It was just the third home loss of the season for the Cougars, who are now 20-3 at Cougar Field this season.

The second and deciding game will begin at approximately 1:50 p.m. CNU will be the home team in the deciding game. The winner will advance to the Super Regional Round of 16 next weekend.