NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The 11th-ranked Captains of Christopher Newport won both ends of a Capital Athletic Conference doubleheader Friday afternoon, and in the process wrapped up the regular-season conference championship in the CAC. Keith Parr's squad defeated Southern Virginia by scores of 11-0 and 5-1 at Captains Park to improve to 28-6 overall and 11-1 in league play. Southern Virginia fell to 14-21 overall and 3-9 in conference action.

The Captains took care of business early in the opener, scoring all 11 runs in the first three innings to close out the Knights in five frames due to the eight-run mercy rule. In the nightcap, CNU scored all five runs in the third inning, all unearned, en route to the 5-1 triumph.

Freshman Patty Maye Ohanian drove in three runs in the first game, pushing her team-leading total for RBI this season to 45. Seniors Leah Andrews and Rachael Payne, as well as sophomore Calah Savage, all posted two hits in the opener as the Captains recorded ten hits to go with their 11 runs. Sophomore Grace Wild had a big second game at the plate, going two-for-two with a double and two-run home run in the five-run third inning.

Sophomore Aubrey Bates, the CAC's Pitcher of the Week the last two weeks, benefited from the run production in the opener, throwing four scoreless innings and upping her record on the year to 13-1. Bates struck out four while allowing just three hits and is now 25-4 in her two-year CNU pitching career. Fellow sophomore Laura Kate Moss went the distance in the second game, yielding just one fourth inning run and three hits while striking out seven. Moss is now 7-4 this season.

Coupled with Friday's Salisbury sweep of York, Christopher Newport now holds a two-game lead over the second-place Sea Gulls with two to play...and CNU would hold the advantage in any tiebreaker for the top seed in the upcoming CAC Tournament thanks to a sweep over Salisbury earlier this season.

CNU, as the top seed, will host the fourth and sixth seeds next Friday and Saturday at Captains Park in a double-elimination first round of the CAC Tournament. Second-seeded Salisbury will host York, the third seed, as well as the fifth seed in Salisbury, Md., in a similar format. Next weekend's victors will then play a best-of-three series for the post-season championship at the higher remaining seed on May 4-5.

The Captains conclude the regular season on Saturday with a home doubleheader against Frostburg State. It will be Senior Day at Captains Park, as five senior student-athletes will be honored before the 1:30 first pitch. CNU is just two wins away from reaching the 30-win plateau for the 12th straight season.