MARSHALL, TX (WTKR)- Christopher Newport softball's defense of its national championship did not get off to a very good start on Thursday, but the Captains aren't done yet.
CNU only manged four hits and committed four errors, falling to Berry College, 3-0, in opening World Series action. The loss drops the Captains into the losers bracket where they will have to win out in order to keep their title hopes alive.
The two teams were scoreless for the first three frames before the Vikings broke the tie with an RBI single in the fourth. It would remain 1-0 until the sixth, when Berry would tack on two more unearned runs to give itself some cushion and that was more than enough for pitcher Hannah Gore. She threw a complete game shutout for the Vikings, striking out six and walking five batters.
Kate Alger also went the distance for Christopher Newport, giving up five hits and striking out eight while surrendering three walks. No CNU players were able to tally a multi-hit game as the squad stranded nine runners on base during the course of the afternoon.
Berry avenges a 6-2 loss to Christopher Newport in last year's World Series.
Now the Captains get set to face a familiar foe in Friday's elimination game. CNU will take on Coast-to-Coast Conference rival Salisbury for the sixth time this year. The Sea Gulls won four of the five previous 2023 match-ups, most recently in the league tournament. Salisbury entered the final eight as the top seed and was upset by Moravian on Thursday afternoon.
First pitch is set for noon ET on Friday.
