NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Christopher Newport University softball team swept a Sunday doubleheader at Averett University in Danville, Va. The Captains shut out the Cougars in the opener, 5-0, and then recorded a 9-5 victory in the nightcap.
Keith Parr's team in now 4-0 to start the season.
Junior starting pitchers
Jamie Martin and
Kate Alger each recorded victories to each improve to 2-0 on the season. Martin tossed a complete-game shutout in the opener, scattering six singles and striking out eight AU batters. Alger pitched the first six frames of game two, and yielded just one earned run and four singles while whiffing five.
The Captains at the plate, meanwhile, recorded 14 runs on 21 hits in the sweep. Freshman
Candace Slaw continued her torrid start for CNU, posting five hits in nine at bats on Sunday. She is now 12 for 17 to start her career, for a batting average of .706 through her first four games. Slaw, CNU's leadoff hitter, also scored three times and stole three bases in the twin bill on a sunny and chilly day at Cougar Field.
In the opener, CNU plated three runs in the first inning, giving Martin all the support she would need, and added two insurance runs in the seventh. Senior
Caroline Pollock went two-for-four and opened the scoring with a first inning RBI single. She would later drive home another run on a single in the seventh. Junior
Meredith Brickner also drove in two runs, with both coming home on a first inning single. Slaw opened her big day by registering three hits in four at bats, and scored a pair of runs for the eighth-ranked Captains.
In game two, Christopher Newport scored three times in the third and seventh innings to open up a 9-2 lead. Averett, now 1-5 to start the season, rallied in the bottom of the seventh frame with three runs to account for the 9-5 final verdict.
Senior
Katie Currin cracked two doubles in game two, driving home three runs for CNU. Slaw added two hits in five trips as the Captains tallied 11 hits after a ten-hit performance in the opener.
Christopher Newport next will travel to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Georgia. CNU is scheduled to play two games each day next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Captains open the Classic on Friday afternoon, playing Wartburg College with first pitch scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
