NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- As the ninth-ranked Christopher Newport softball team stayed undefeated on the year with a pair of dominant victories over Muhlenberg, the Captains' earned head coach Keith Parr his 600th career win. The all-time winningest coach in CNU Athletics history earned the milestone in game one against the Mules with a 14-0 win and picked up No. 601 with a 20-0 victory in game two. 

Christopher Newport improved to 13-0 on the season for just the second time in program history (14-0 start in 2016) and tied for the tenth-longest win streak in program history. Parr saw his overall win-loss record move to 601-187-1 in his career for a winning percentage of 76.2 percent. Entering the 2022 season, Parr ranked seventh among active Division III coaches in career winning percentage and 21st in total victories. Excluding the 2020 season shortened by the COVID-19 global pandemic, Parr averages nearly 34 wins per season (33.9) and has helped deliver the Captains to the NCAA postseason in 14 of a possible 17 seasons. 

Kaitlyn Hasty was 3-for-4 with 7 RBI and a pair of home runs to surpass CNU Athletics Hall of Famer Sabrina Hill for second on the all-time chart with 42 career homers. Jules Donnelly and Sarah Proctor each blasted home runs of their own as Christopher Newport belted 24 hits in the twin bill including ten for extra bases. 

In the circle, the Captains got two excellent pitching performances from freshmen Kate Alger (4-0) and Jamie Martin (5-0). Both tossed 4.0 shutout innings and earned the win while junior Abby Rochette closed out both games in the fifth inning. CNU surrendered just five hits while striking out 13 combined. With the impressive effort, Alger and Martin are the first pair of freshmen in program history to start a career without a loss in their first five games started. 

Christopher Newport opened the doubleheader on Sunday with Alger in the circle and she quickly asserted herself against the Muhlenberg lineup. She struck out seven of the 14 batters she faced, taking on just two more than the minimum in her four innings of work. The lone single she allowed came on a spinner that was picked up on the third base line for an infield single to lead off the top of the second. From there, Alger retired nine in a row to close out her fourth win of the season. 

On the offensive side of the ball, the Captains scored twice in the bottom of the first and rolled through the lineup with an eight run third inning to pull away. CNU added foure more in the bottom of the fourth to raise the final tally to 14 in the shutout victory. 

In the bottom of the first, Caitlin Abernethy led off with a hit-by-pitch and moved up to second on a hard ripped single into center field by Bailey Roberts. After Muhlenberg retired the next two, Caroline Helmer walked to load the bases and Brooke Childress walked in a rub. Pinch hitter Meredith Brickner smoked a groundball through the left side to plate the second run before the inning came to a close. 

In the third, the Captains put a big number on the board while doing the bulk of the damage with two outs. With the bases loaded and two outs, Sarah Proctor walked in a run to bring up Maddie Hool with the bags still juiced. Hool singled through the right side to plate two runs and then promptly stole second to get two runners in scoring position for the top of the order. Abernethy kept the line moving with a double down the left field line and was followed by a walk for Roberts. That would bring up Hasty with a chance to put the Captains over the mercy-rule limit and the senior slugger left no doubt on a 2-1 pitch up in the zone. Hasty turned on the pitch and absolutely demolished her 41st career home run over the wall in left center field. 

With the game in hand, Alger cruised through the top of the fourth and the CNU bats stayed hot in the bottom half. Helmer doubled to lead off and pinch hitter Olivia Tullous singled to move her pinch runner, Caroline Pollock, up to third. After a HBP loaded the bases, Hool came up two batters later. The fifth-year senior blistered another RBI base hit into left center. Three more would come across the plate before the end of the inning as CNU closed out a 14-run outburst at the dish. 

Hool finished game one 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and 2 runs scored while Hasty's 1-for-3 effort and 3-run shot helped power the Captains to the win. Abernethy also added two RBI while Helmer was 2-for-2 with a walk. 

While Alger impressed at the end of her outing, her classmate was exceptional from the start. Jamie Martin gave up a lead off single to Sarah Karmazyn and then nothing else; she retired 12 straight and was perfect through the remainder of her 4.0-inning start. Martin struck out four, including two in the third, and used her defense by inducing the remaining eights outs on the infield. 

Martin kept Muhlenberg off the board and the Captains' bats did their job on the other side of the field. CNU scored three in the first and second before blowing the game wide open with a nine-run third frame and five more runs in the fourth. 

Blitzing the Mules from the first pitch, Abernethy kicked things off with a triple into the corner in the bottom of the first. She trotted home when Roberts singled up the middle and two more would come around on a costly error by Muhlenberg. CNU took advantage of another miscue in the bottom of the second when Proctor raced home on an RBI single by Abernethy. Hasty then delivered her second blast of the day with a no-doubter to dead center field for a two-run blow. 

CNU sent 14 batters to the plate in a nine-run third inning that featured a pair of home runs by the Captains. After the first two batters reached, it was Proctor who smashed her third homer of the season with a three-run round-tripper to get things started. Hool then doubled followed by walks from Abernethy and Roberts. After a sacrifice fly by Hasty plated a run, Brooke Greaver connected on an RBI single up the middle. Another run scored on a wild pitch while Jules Donnelly saw her first plate appearance of the day. Exactly one year to the day since her last home run, Donnelly had deja-vu and put one into the scoreboard out in left field for a three-run dinger. 

The second three-run HR of the inning put the Captains ahead 15-0. In the fourth, CNU scored five more runs on three hits and an error. Parr went to his reserves and they kept the hot bats working as Caroline Pollock highlighted the action with a two-run double while Donnelly added another RBI with a fielder's choice. Meredith Bricker reached on a walk and Brenna Morefield ripped a single before Pollock's two-out two-run rip. 

Roberts and Hasty each continued their lengthy on-base streaks to 13 games this season. The duo at the top of the Captains' lineup have reached base in all 13 games this year and Roberts is currently on a seven-game hitting streak. 

Christopher Newport will be back in action on Monday as they host Juniata College at 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. Live stats and live video will be available for both games.