COLUMBUS, Ga. - Christopher Newport posted two victories Friday to start a busy weekend of action at the National Fastpitch Coaches Associations's Leadoff Classic. Keith Parr's squad opened the day by shutting out Trine University, 5-0, and followed with a 4-2 triumph over Illinois Wesleyan University.

The Captains, ranked 19th in the country in pre-season, improved to 5-0, with four more games to come at the tournament, two on Saturday and two on Sunday.

CNU opened the day with a brilliant pitching performance by freshman Kate Alger, who carried a perfect game into the seventh inning. Alger, from Staunton, Va., went the distance and allowed just a seventh inning single and two walks to the Thunder while striking out 11 to pick up her first victory as a Captain. 

Christopher Newport scored two runs in each of the first two innings to give Alger all the support she would need. Sophomore Brooke Greaver smacked a two-run home run in the top of the first inning to get the day started, and sophomore Katie Currin crushed a solo shot to center in the second frame. Senior Caitlin Abernethy provided a run-scoring single in the second to make it 4-0, and the Captains added a solo run in the fifth on an RBI single from senior Caroline Helmer.

In the second game, the Captains got another stellar pitching performance, this time from freshman Jamie Martin, who threw six innings to earn the victory and improve to 2-0 on the season. Martin yielded just one run on four hits and struck out seven. Junior Abby Rochette threw the final frame to pick up her first save of teh year.

CNU used eight singles to piece together their four runs, and senior Sarah Proctor registered three of them and also scored three times.  Fifth-year senior Maddie Hool drove in two runs with two sacrifice flies and also delivered a single. 

CNU's Saturday schedule has the Captains taking the field at 10:00 a.m. for a matchup with Alma College. Christopher Newport will then battle Emory University at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday. Alma, from Michigan, was 3-5 heading into the Leadoff Classic while Atlanta's Emory was 2-2.

Sunday's schedule has CNU taking on two schools from Claremont, California. The Captains will play Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at 9:00 a.m. followed by an 11:00 a.m. start vs. Pomona-Pitzer. CMS was 3-5 heading into the weekend, while Pomona-Pitzer was 4-8 on this season.