NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The offense came alive for the nationally-ranked CNU softball team on Thursday afternoon, as the Captains smashed the most home runs in program history in a doubleheader against a nationally-ranked opponent with seven trot-inducing blasts. The 7th-ranked Captains swept No. 13 Lynchburg (13-3) by scores of 12-4, in six innings, and 4-0. 

With the sweep, CNU extended improved to 11-1 with an 11-game winning streak. The seven home runs were the third most in any doubleheader in program history and the most against a ranked program. The last time the Captains smacked as many round-trippers was when the team hit eight in a twin bill against Wesley on April 12, 2014. The program record of 10 was set in a doubleheader at Mary Baldwin College on March 27, 2009. 

Three Captains finished the day with two dingers apiece as rookies Kaitlyn Hasty, Bailey Roberts, and sophomore Patty Maye Ohanian led the power surge. A third freshman, Sarah Proctor, notched the seventh four-base hit of the day with a solo shot in game two.

The Captains belted four home runs and 14 total hits in the firsts game, led by multi-hit performances from each of the first six batters in the lineup. Hasty led the overpowering attack, going 3-for-4 with 5 RBI and two home runs, including the game-winning three-run blow in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

Ohanian also smacked a home run in the first game while Roberts added one as well. Junior second baseman Grace Wild also added a two-hit performance with a triple and a pair of runs scored. 

The CNU offense got going early with four runs in the bottom of the first inning, powered by back-to-back homers from Roberts and Hasty. Wild's one-out triple set up a two-run blow from Roberts followed by Hasty's solo shot. Keeping the line moving, Calah Savage ripped a hard shot up the middle for a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Caroline Helmer then drove in the fourth run of the frame with a single into right center field to give CNU a 4-1 lead.
 
After a quiet second inning, the Hornets cut into the lead with two runs in the top of the third, making it 4-3, but the Captains came to life again in the bottom half of the inning, scoring four more runs on five hits. Ohanian led things off with an infield single, followed by a rip to right field off of Roberts' bat. Hasty stepped in and plated Ohanian with a single into center field, and Savage loaded the bases with a single into left. After Lynchburg recorded a pair of outs, Maddie Hool pinch hit and drew an RBI walk. Leadoff batter Sarah Proctor then delivered one of her two hits in the game with a two-run single into right field to cap the scoring.
 
Ohanian stroked a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning, putting the Captains within striking distance of a walk-off run-rule win, leading 9-4. The game-winning hit came in the bottom of the 6^th as Proctor and Wild reached on back-to-back base-hit bunts to put the clinching run at the plate. Lynchburg reliever Kayley Cox nearly wiggled out of the jam by retiring the next two batters, but Hasty stepped in and crushed a 2-1 pitch over the left field wall to end the game, 12-4.
 
In the circle, sophomore Emily Weatherholtz (5-0) picked up the win with four strikeouts in 4.0 innings of work. She allowed five hits and four runs, two earned, before giving way to reliever Trish Webb. Webb tossed two shutout frames without giving up a hit while striking one.
 
In game two, the power stroke kept leading the way as CNU jumped ahead of the Hornets with a two-run round-tripper from Ohanian in the bottom of the first inning. Proctor led off the fifth with a solo shot, and three batters later, Roberts delivered her second of the day to run  the Captains home run total to seven on the day. 
 
Junior Aubrey Bates (5-0) was perfect through three innings in the circle with three strikeouts. After a leadoff single in the fourth, Bates retired the next three batters and faced just two batters more than the minimum over five innings of work. The Captains stuck with their junior right-hander for the final two innings and she picked up her second shutout of the season with the complete-game victory. Her first seven-inning shutout of the year and the fifth of her career, Bates finished with five strikeouts, four hits allowed, and just one walk. 

The talented freshman class had a tremendous day at the plate for the Captains, as four different rookies (Hasty, Helmer, Proctor, & Roberts) combined to go 14-for-25 (.560) on the day with 5 HR, 12 RBI and 8 runs scored. In the two games combined, Hasty finished 4-for-6 with 5 RBI and 2 runs scored to lead the way. 

The Captains will return to action on Saturday, March 16 as they play host to Penn State Behrend in a doubleheader set to begin at 1:00 pm.