NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Sophomore Kate Alger retired 21 straight Roanoke College batters Friday afternoon, throwing her first career perfect game as the Captains defeated the Maroons, 2-0. The victory at Captains Park propels CNU into the NCAA Regional Final Saturday, and Keith Parr's squad will again play Roanoke to decide who will advance to the Round of 16 in the 62-team tournament.

Alger, from Staunton, Va., improved her record to 14-5 on the season with the dominant performance. The right-hander struck out seven of the 21 batters she faced, and registered just the eighth perfect game in the 39-year history of the program, and the first-ever in NCAA play for the Captains. Krista Lewis was the last CNU pitcher to record a perfect game, more than nine years ago, on April 9, 2014, vs. Mary Washington.

CNU's defense made several impressive plays to keep the perfect game in order. Senior rightfielder Kensley Hess made a sparkling diving catch in the third inning to rob Roanoke's Makayla Austin of a base hit. Alger herself made a solid defensive play on an infield chopper in the sixth frame, and first baseman Meredith Brickner made an unassisted dive to the bag at first to record the first out of the seventh inning. Alger completed the perfect effort in the seventh by fielding a grounder up the middle, and then got Roanoke's Adriana Rivera to fly out to Hess in rightfield to end the game.

Christopher Newport, the tenth-ranked team in the country and defending National Champions, scored the only runs of the game in the third inning when senior Nicole Apai doubled home senior Abby Rochette, who had led off the inning with a single. Brickner then scored Apai with an RBI single to give the Captains all the runs they would need.

Earlier this season, Alger threw two no-hitters, the first coming on March 5th, a complete-game no-hitter vs. Bethany in the Grand Slam Triangle Classic in Raleigh, North Carolina. Alger struck out 13 in the game, and all that separated her from a perfect game was an error committed by the Captains on the first play of the game. She was also near-perfect on April 23rd when she issued two walks, but tossed a five-inning no-hitter vs. Averett at Captains Park. There have now been 32 no-hitters or perfect games in CNU softball history.

The shutout triumph on an overcast and cool afternoon improved the Captains to 28-10 on the season, and CNU will again play Roanoke Saturday with first pitch set for 12:00 p.m. If the Maroons win the contest, the Championship would extend to a second game, which would be played at approximately 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Captains Park. 

The double-elimination regional was cut in half on Friday, with two games following Alger's remarkable performance. Both Pennsylvania schools in the four-team regional were sent home when Misericordia University defeated York College of Pennsylvania, 7-0, and Roanoke returned in the final game of the day to oust Misericordia, 6-1. York finished the season with a 23-21 record, while Misericordia concluded the year with a 27-13 mark. The Maroons of Roanoke will head into Saturday's regional final with a record of 29-13 after splitting their two games on Friday at Captains Park.