NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport recorded two victories Saturday at Captains Park as the 2019 Capital Athletic Conference Softball Tournament got underway. The Captains, ranked ninth in the nation, posted wins over Frostburg State, 8-2, and then Salisbury, 10-2, and now need just one win on Sunday to advance to the CAC Championship Series next Friday and Saturday. CNU, now 30-6, and Frostburg State, 17-19, will begin play Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. at Captains Park. The Bobcats have to win the 11 a.m. game to force a second and deciding game at 1:00 p.m.

In the middle game Saturday in between CNU's triumphs, Frostburg State came back from an 8-2 deficit to beat Salisbury, 10-9. The Sea Gulls were then eliminated by the Captains in the final game, and finished the season with a 24-13 record.

Keith Parr's squad matched the all-time season record for home runs in a season by blasting four on the day. The Captains now have 50 round-trippers for the season.

The action began on a sunny and breezy day at Captains Park with CNU falling behind to Frostburg State, 2-0. The Captains' bats then came alive as CNU scored eight unanswered runs for the 8-2 triumph. Junior Grace Wild got the scoring started with an RBI single in the third inning, and freshman Caitlin Abernethy tied the game in the fourth, scoring on an errant throw by the Bobcats.

The long balls started flying in the fifth inning when sophomore Patty Maye Ohanian connected for a three-run home run, her eighth of the season. In the sixth inning, sophomore Maddie Hool smacked a two-run homer, her fourth of the year, and Ohanian added a solo shot to give her nine for the season, as the Captains cruised to the 8-2 victory. Hool scored three times and was four-for-four in the game with two singles, a double, and home run.

Sophomore Emily Weatherholtz entered the game in relief for the Captains in the fourth inning, and pitched four scoreless and hitless frames. She retired all 12 batters she faced, striking out four, and improved to 11-1 on the season.

In the second game, CNU ousted Salisbury by jumping to an early 5-0 lead en route to a 10-2 win. The game ended in the sixth inning when freshman Kaitlyn Hasty crushed her 15th home run of the season, halting the action due to the eight-run rule. Hasty is third in the country in home runs in Division III, and is just two shy of CNU's all-time single season record of 17, set by Jessie Atkinson in 2011. 

Junior Trish Webb improved to 8-3 by striking out six in six innings of work against the Sea Gulls, allowing just one earned run and five hits. The victory over Salisbury gave the Captains their 30th win of the season. Keith Parr's team has now won at least 30 games the last 13 seasons, and is looking to advance to the NCAA Tournament for the 13th straight season as well.

The team that emerges victorious at CNU on Sunday will play for the CAC title next Friday and Saturday in a best-of-three series at the higher-seeded remaining school. All three teams playing at Mary Washington in Fredericksburg on Saturday went 1-1, and the pod will not conclude action until Monday when the Eagles, Southern Virginia, and York will return to determine the winner.

Sunday's action at Captains Park will be webcast live on CNUsports.com/live, with video and live stats available.