MARSHALL, TEXAS - The opening day of the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament Finals didn't go well for two Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference members. The top-ranked Salisbury University squad opened the day by falling to eighth-seeded Moravian in the first game, 4-1, and the fourth-seeded Captains of Christopher Newport were then shut out by fifth-seeded Berry College of Georgia, 3-0.

Now, the longtime rivals will meet head-to-head on Friday at 12 p.m. (ET) at Bell Park at Taylor Field, with the losing team heading home from the double-elimination final.

The Captains, now 31-12, managed just four singles off Berry's Hannah Gore as the Vikings improved to 42-5 with the victory. Gore, a sophomore, went the distance, struck out five, and stranded nine Captains on base as she raised her record to 17-1 for the season.

"When it gets to this point, it's all about how teams are going to execute," CNU Head Coach Keith Parr said following the loss on an 88-degree afternoon in Eastern Texas. "They executed and we didn't, and now we've got to get back to work and evaluate and adjust and be better tomorrow."

CNU starter Kate Alger also went the distance, as the sophomore from Staunton, Va., struck out eight while yielding five hits. She fell to 16-6, and was victimized by four errors committed by the CNU defense, making just one of Berry's runs earned.

"Kate pitched really well today," Parr continued. "Berry has a good lineup and they put the bat on the ball, and I think Kate did a great job. We just did some very uncharacteristic things in the field, and you can't give a team opportunities like that."

The Captains did not put together more than one of their four hits in any inning, and stranded at least one runner in every frame except the seventh. Seniors Nicole Apai and Kensley Hess, and, juniors Brooke Greaver and Caroline Pollock contributed the four base hits. CNU's biggest threat came in the fifth inning, when the Captains left the bases loaded. After Pollock led off with a single to left, senior Bianca Palmer-Scott was hit by a pitch. Apai dropped a successful sacrifice bunt. After an infield pop up, Greaver walked to load the bases with two outs. Gore was able to wiggle out of the jam by ending the inning with another infield pop up as the rally went by the boards for the Captains.

Gore retired CNU in order in the seventh to put the game away, and ended up retiring the last six CNU batters she faced. 

CNU and Salisbury will meet for the sixth time this season on Friday, and the Sea Gulls have won four of the first five. The game will be the 99th all-time in the series, and the Captains hold a slim 49-47 edge with two ties.

All four games Thursday saw the lower-seeded team defeat the higher seed as the final eight teams began the battles to decide the winner of the 62-team tournament. Christopher Newport won the National Championship last season by winning five straight games in Salem, Va., in the National Finals.

Here is Friday's schedule of games.

Friday, June 2 (All Times Eastern)

11:00 AM | Gates open to public

12:00 PM | Game 5 -  #1 Salisbury (44-4) vs.  #4 Christopher Newport (31-12) (elimination game)

2:30 PM | Game 6 - #2 Linfield (46-45 vs. #3 Trine (40-5) (elimination game)

5:00 PM | Game 7 - #8 Moravian (38-10) vs. #5 Berry College (42-5)

7:30 PM | Game 8 - #7 Coe (38-9) vs. #6 Rowan (42-8)