CARY, N.C. - The Christopher Newport softball squad recorded two victories Friday afternoon to get the Grand Slam Triangle Classic underway.
Keith Parr's squad, ranked second in the country, defeated Arcadia by a 10-3 margin in the first game, and then posted a 7-4 triumph over Piedmont.
The Captains jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first game of the day and went on to down Arcadia, 10-3. Christopher Newport tallied 14 base hits and scored four runs in the fourth and then four more in the sixth frame to put the game away. Senior
Grace Wild and junior
Patty Maye Ohanian each cracked their first home runs of the season, both two-run shots. Ohanian also had a first inning RBI single and ended up with three runs batted in.
Freshman
Gracie Vallejos earned her second victory of the season, pitching the first six innings and allowing three runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Arcadia was playing for the first time this season, and the Knights are 1-1 following the first day of the tournament.
In the second game, the Captains held a 3-2 lead going to the seventh inning and then posted their third four-run inning of the day to take a 7-2 lead. Piedmont battled back with two runs in the home half of the seventh, but Christopher Newport prevailed by a 7-4 final verdict over the Lions.
Sophomore
Kaitlyn Hasty delivered the big hit of the game, a grand slam home run in the top of the seventh inning that provided what proved to be the winning runs. Sophomore
Sarah Proctor drove home two runs with a fourth inning double, and sophomore
Caitlin Abernethy drove home a run in the fifth inning with a double.
Senior starter
Trish Webb earned the victory to go to 2-0 by yielding just one earned run over her six innings of pitching while giving up just three hits. Piedmont lost both of its games in the tourney on Friday and the Lions are now 2-2 on the season.
The Captains are now 6-0 to start the season, and will play two more games in the tournament on Saturday as well as two on Sunday. Christopher Newport will play Emory (1-1) on Saturday at 12 noon and then Randolph (2-2) at 2:30 p.m.
