NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The top two softball squads in the nation squared off Wednesday, and Christopher Newport University took both games of a doubleheader over Salisbury University at Captains Park. The Captains, ranked #1 in the country for the last five weeks, walked off with a 4-2 triumph in the opener thanks to a seventh inning, three-run home run from sophomore third baseman Brooke Greaver...then slammed three more long balls in a 10-6 victory over the second-ranked Sea Gulls in the nightcap.

The Captains are now 33-1, and concluded the home regular-season schedule with an 19-0 mark at Captains Park. Salisbury fell to 30-4 with the two defeats, and the Sea Gulls had a 17-game winning streak snapped in the opening-game loss. CNU is now 4-0 atop the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference, while the Gulls fell to 2-2 in league action.

Greaver provided the heroics in the opening game on a sunny and cool afternoon at Captains Park. Salisbury plated two unearned runs early in the game and SU starting pitcher Lindsey Windsor sailed through the first five innings, holding the Captains scoreless while scattering six hits. CNU finally broke through in the sixth, chasing Windsor, and pinch-hitter Meredith Brickner put the Captains on the board when she singled home pinch-runner Bianca Palmer-Scott to cut the Sea Gull lead to 2-1.

Senior catcher Bailey Roberts then got the rally started in the bottom of the seventh with a one-out single through the left side. Senior designated player Kaitlyn Hasty followed with a walk, and after a fly out, Greaver came to the plate with the Captains down to their final out. After taking a ball from Sea Gull reliever Savannah Sheats, Greaver crushed a fly ball to deep right-center field that carried over the fence to give the Captains the 4-2 walk-off victory. The round-tripper was the 7th of the season for Greaver, and scored pinch-runners Kensley Hess and Sammy Drew.

Freshman left-hander Jamie Martin went the distance for the Captains, allowing no earned runs on six hits while striking out eight. She improved her record to 12-1 on the season.

In the second game, Salisbury jumped to an early lead, 2-0, thanks to a two-run home run from Natalie Paoli in the top of the first inning. CNU chipped away to tie the game with two in third frame, as senior left-fielder Caitlin Abernethy provided a run-scoring single, and Roberts hit a sacrifice fly. The Captains then began a stretch that saw them hit a home run in three consecutive innings to pull away.

Senior center-fielder Sarah Proctor cracked her 8th home run of the season, a three-run shot, in the fourth to give the Captains a 5-2 lead. After Salisbury posted a solo home run in the fifth from Sydney Duplissey, Hasty came to the plate in the bottom of the fifth and answered with a solo shot of her own. The shot to straight-away center was the 51st career home run for Hasty, and her 17th of the season, and pushed the Captains lead to 6-3.

The Captains then put together their biggest inning of the day, posting four runs in the sixth to put the game away. Abernethy plated the first run of the frame with a sacrifice fly, and then Roberts stepped up and blasted her 10th home run of the year, a three-run shot, to give the Captains a 10-3 lead. The shot by Roberts was the third three-run dinger of the day for CNU, and fourth home run in all. CNU leads the country in home runs per game, and now has hit 63 long balls over the first 34 games of the season.

Salisbury scored three times in the top of the seventh thanks to home runs from Abby Mace, a two-run shot, and a solo blast by Paoli, her second of the game, to provide the 10-6 final verdict.

Junior Abby Rochette started the nightcap for the Captains in the pitching circle, and threw the first five innings. She allowed three runs on four hits and upped her record on the season to 5-0 with the win. Martin entered the game in relief in the sixth, and picked up her first save of the season. SU starter Nicole Ortega took the loss to fall to 6-2.

Senior shortstop Natalie Carmichael was 5-for-5 at the plate in the twin bill, and scored three runs in the second game. Senior left fielder Abernethy was 5-for-7 in the doubleheader and drove home two runs in the nightcap.

Christopher Newport will conclude the regular season on Sunday, when the Captains travel to Raleigh, N.C., to take on the Avenging Angels of Meredith College. The twin bill is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. The Captains will then host the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at Captains Park, May 5th-7th, with CNU, Salisbury, and Mary Washington battling for the league crown and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.