No. 1 CNU surges to C2C championship

Erasing a three-run deficit to the nation’s No. 2 Division III team, Christopher Newport earned the right to carry its No. 1 ranking into the NCAA Tournament.

Coach Keith Parr’s Captains pulled away for a 10-4 home victory Friday against Salisbury before 503 fans to win the CoastTo-Coast Athletic Conference’s double-elimination tournament. CNU (37-1) soon will head to its 15th consecutive NCAA tourney, which will start Thursday. The pairings will be unveiled Monday.

Salisbury is 0-4 against CNU, all at Captains Park, and 36-2 versus other opponents. That included a 6-1 triumph Friday morning that eliminated Mary Washington, the other squad in the three-team tournament.

The Sea Gulls scored twice in each of the first two innings to go ahead 4-1, but Hickory High graduate Bailey Roberts’ RBI single and Western Branch graduate Kaitlyn Hasty’s two-run homer in the bottom of the second tied the score at 4. It was Hasty’s school-record 52nd home run.

Maddie Hool’s two-run single put CNU ahead 6-4, and four unearned runs in the sixth — a half-inning with three Salisbury errors — increased the margin to 10-4. Winner Jamie Martin (15-1) struck out five and gave up just one hit in five innings of relief.

Charleston Southern went to Hampton and swept a doubleheader, 4-1 in eight innings and 7-2 in seven against the Pirates (19-35, 7-19 Big South).

In Game 1, HU’s Lauryn Brooks stole home in the bottom of the third. CSU (25-26, 11-13) tied the game in the sixth on Raleigh Lewis’ RBI single, then won with a three-run eighth. In Game 2, the Buccaneers went ahead 6-0 in the first inning.

HU, hoping to end a five-game skid, is scheduled to play its final home game at 11 a.m. today against Charleston Southern.