Live Stats // Video Stream

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Due to inclement weather conditions expected in the Hampton Roads area on Saturday, the sixth-ranked Christopher Newport softball team's 2019 debut has been pushed back to Sunday at noon when the squad will host Emory & Henry in the season opener at Captains Park.
 
For those fans unable to attend the doubleheader on Sunday, live stats and a video stream of the action will be available at CNUsports.com. Direct links to both features can be found at the top of this release and on the CNU schedule page.
 
Christopher Newport enters 2019 ranked sixth in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Preseason Poll after wrapping up the 2018 season with a 37-10 record. Last year, the squad eventually earned its 12 straight trip to the NCAA Tournament while claiming its second consecutive Capital Athletic Conference title. The Captains also enter 2019 as the preseason favorites in the CAC.
 
CNU welcomes back eight players who started at least 20 games last season, including five reigning All-Conference performers. Headlining the veteran contingent, sophomore Patty Maye Ohanian returns after becoming the first athlete in school history to secure first-team All-American honors as a freshman. During her record-setting debut, she established new single-season program standards with 75 hits, 68 RBI, and 132 total bases.
 
Along with Ohanian, juniors Aubrey Bates and Grace Wild were also All-Region selections last season, while Calah Savage and Laura Kate Moss joined them on the All-Conference squad. Especially experienced in the circle, Bates and Moss combined to win 27 games in 2018. Among their highlights, Bates twirled the program's 24th no-hitter while blanking Penn St. Harrisburg on April 14, and Moss fired a complete-game gem against Salisbury on May 5 to lock up the conference title.
 
On the other side of the field, Emory & Henry notched a 31-14 record last season and enters 2019 slotted third in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Preseason Poll. The Wasps are slotted just behind Virginia Wesleyan and Randolph-Macon, who both enter the year ranked among the top-20 teams nationally.
 
E&H returns four All-Conference standouts from last year's squad, including first-team selection Erin Anderson. She was also celebrated as the ODAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2018. Meanwhile, Amanda Whitlow also picked up second-team All-League nods last season, while Lyndsay Boyd and Madison McClanahan were third-team picks.
 
In addition to helping Emory & Henry post 31 wins last year, the four reigning All-Conference performers also saw action on the 2017 team, which became the second squad in program history to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Sunday's doubleheader marks only the fourth time that CNU and Emory & Henry have met on a softball field. Christopher Newport holds a 2-1 edge in the all-time series, including a 3-1 victory in their last battle on March 3, 2007. The Wasps were last victorious over the Captains during the 2002 campaign.
 
---CNU---