NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport University split a road doubleheader Wednesday afternoon at Bridgewater College. The Eagles held on to win the opener, 6-5, before the Captains registered an 11-0 victory in the nightcap in a game that was halted after five innings due to the eight run mercy rule. The Captains are now 18-8 following the split, while Bridgewater is 19-7.

The opener saw the Captains take an early lead when junior Candace Slaw, who had opened the game with a single, score on a wild pitch for the first run of the day. Bridgewater surged ahead by scoring a run in the second and two more in the third for a 3-1 lead. Christopher Newport rallied by plating three runs in the fourth, with two coming home thanks to a fielding error and one on a wild pitch, to re-claim the lead, 4-3. The Eagles bounced back by scoring a run in the fifth and two more in the sixth for a 6-4 edge. Junior Brooke Zuber crushed her seventh home run of the season in the seventh, but the rally fell short as Bridgewater held on for the 6-5 victory. Freshman Cora Grace Sparger went the distance in game one, yielding just four earned runs, to fall to 10-4 on the year.

Christopher Newport's offense came alive in the nightcap, as the Captains scored 11 times on ten hits in the 11-0 verdict. CNU plated a run in the first, four in the second, and six in the fourth to close out the Eagles in five innings. Slaw posted two more hits, a single and a double, in game two to finish the day four-for-six at the dish with three runs batted in and four runs scored, two in each game. Zuber hit her second home run of the day, and eighth of the season, with a two-run blast in the second inning...and junior Simone Thompson ended the scoring with a two-run double in the six-run fourth.

Senior Mia Aiello returned from injury to make her first appearance of the season in the pitching circle for the Captains in game two, and got her season off to a strong start. She pitched all five shutout innings, scattered five singles, and struck out three while not allowing any walks for the victory.

Christopher Newport returns home on Saturday to host the University of Lynchburg. The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. at Captains Park.