NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport University split a softball twin bill Thursday afternoon at Averett University's Cougar Field in Danville, Va.
Keith Parr's squad fell in the opening game, 9-4, but bounced back to claim an 8-6 victory in the nightcap. CNU, ranked 16th in the nation this week, is now 16-6 on the season.
Averett opened a big lead in the opening game by scoring seven times in the third inning, and the Cougars never looked back. The Captains committed five errors in the first game, and finally broke through with two runs in the fourth and single runs in the sixth and seventh frames. CNU matched AU with 12 hits, but the Captains stranded ten runners on base.
Four Christopher Newport players (
Candace Slaw,
Olivia Miller, Cora Thiomas, and
Isabel Hall) notched two hits in the loss. Slaw, Thomas, and
Brooke Zuber each posted a double for the only extra-base hits of the game for CNU, and Slaw also stole a base.
Haylee Callahan pitched all six innings for the Captains, and took the loss to fall to 6-2 on the year.
In the nightcap, the Captains jumped to a 5-0 lead over the first two innings and then held off the Cougars, 8-6.
Cora Grace Sparger, who has been named the Pitcher of the Week in the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference the last two weeks, went the distance to get the victory and improve her record to 9-3.
Averett, now 13-7, out-hit the Captains in game two, 11-10. CNU was led by
Isabel Hall, who registered two singles and a double and drove in three runs. Hall's runs batted in came in the first two frames as the Captains built the 5-0 early edge. Slaw and Thomas each had two more hits in the nightcap, and Thomas' hits were both of the extra base variety, a double and a triple.
For the day, Hall was five-for-six at the dish, Thomas was four-for-six, and Slaw was four-for eight, as the trio accounted for 13 of CNU's 22 hits.
The Captains travel to York, Pa., on Sunday for a doubleheader at York College. The first game is set to begin at 12:30 p.m.
