CARY, N.C. - The Christopher Newport softball team concluded play Sunday in the Grand Slam Triangle Classic with shutout victories over Rowan and McDaniel. The Captains, ranked second in the nation, defeated Rowan by a 7-0 score, and then blanked McDaniel, 11-0, in a game shortened to five innings due to the ten-run rule. Keith Parr's squad went 6-0 in North Carolina over the three-day weekend tournament.

The Captains were led by senior starting pitcher Aubrey Bates in game one and freshman pitcher Gracie Vallejos, who got the start in game two. Both threw shutout ball, as Bates improved her record to 4-0 on the season and Vallejos upped her mark to 3-0. Junior Patty Maye Ohanian also homered in both games as the Captains out-scored their opponents by an 18-0 margin for the day.

Christopher Newport and Rowan opened the day with a pitcher's duel for five innings until the Captains bats erupted for four runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth, all thanks to two long balls, for the 7-0 final. Ohanian, an All-American for the Captains in each of her first two seasons, clubbed a grand slam in the fifth to break the scoreless tie. Sophomore Kaitlyn Hasty, an All-American last year as a freshman as well as the Capital Athletic Conference's Player and Rookie of the Year, smacked a three-run shot in the sixth to provide all of the run production. Hasty has now registered a team-high 14 runs batted in and a team-high .515 batting average over the first ten games of the season.

Bates sailed through the Profs batting order, allowing no runs while scattering five hits and striking out nine. In addition to her 4-0 record so far this season, Bates has recorded an earned run average of just 0.78. Rowan fell to 1-2 with the defeat.

In the nightcap, Ohanian went to work early by blasting a solo home run in the first inning, her second shot of the day and fourth of the season, as the Captains went on to plate five first inning runs. Christopher Newport added two more in the second and four in the third en route to the 11-0 triumph. Ohanian drove in three more runs later in the game with a sacrifice fly in the second inning and a two-run infield single in the third. She now has 13 runs batted in for the season.

Junior Natalie Carmichael cleared the bases in the first inning with a three-run single, and sophomore Bailey Roberts and senior Grace Wild also drove in runs for the Captains in the lopsided victory.

Vallejos pitched four scoreless frames and struck out four as she improved to 3-0 on the season. The freshman allowed just two hits as McDaniel fell to 0-4 to start the season.

Christopher Newport now will prepare for its upcoming spring break trip to Arizona for six games next weekend. The Captains will play twice on Friday against Claremont-Mudd-Scipps Colleges at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time followed by an 8:00 p.m. Eastern time game vs. Mary Hardin-Baylor.