NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport opened the 2018 softball season on Tuesday by splitting a doubleheader with Randolph-Macon at Captains Park. Both games featured outstanding pitching efforts, and both were decided by 2-1 scores.

The Captains won the opener thanks to a walk-off double from sophomore Tara Deck in the bottom of the seventh inning. Deck came to the plate with two outs and senior Savannah Couch at second base. Couch had walked and stolen second base earlier in the frame. Deck delivered by lining a Candace Whittemore pitch into right-centerfield to bring Couch home with the winning run.

Randolph-Macon took an early 1-0 lead in the opener by scoring in the top of the first inning off CNU starter Aubrey Bates, who recovered to allow just five hits and the lone run while striking out eight Yellow Jackets. Bates, a sophomore who was 12-3 last year as a freshman, earned the victory and stranded seven Randolph-Macon runners.

The Captains plated their first run of the season in the fourth inning of the opener, as freshman Patty Maye Ohanian drove home senior Rachael Payne with a two-out single to right field. The hit tied the game at 1-1 and set the stage for Deck's game-winning double, which ended up the only extra-base hit of the entire doubleheader. The squads totaled just 17 hits on the day (Randolph-Macon posted 11 singles against CNU pitching while the Captains recorded just six hits, five singles, in the two games).

In the nightcap, Randolph-Macon broke through for two runs in the top of the fourth inning and held off the Captains, 2-1. Freshman Kayley Scott threw a complete game two-hitter for the Yellow Jackets, and retired the final 13 Captains she faced. The only two hits the Captains could muster came off the bat of sophomore Liz Andrews, the Capital Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year last year. Andrews singled in the first and third innings, and drove in CNU's lone run in the first, scoring sophomore Grace Wild who had walked. After allowing the first inning run, Scott threw six shutout innings and struck out seven CNU batters in her first collegiate performance.

Sophomore Laura Kate Moss was the hard-luck losing pitcher in the second game, pitching all seven innings and allowing just two runs on four hits. Moss struck out eight and only one of the two runs scored against her was earned.

CNU now leads the all-time series with Randolph-Macon, 17-5, and the Captains head back into action on Saturday at Captains Park. CNU will host Division II Davis & Elkins (W.Va.) in a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m.