NEWPORT NEWS, VA (WTKR)- Christopher Newport has not fallen at home all season. The Captains' bats came alive at the right time on Friday afternoon to keep that perfect record at their park intact.
Meredith Brickner's ground ball went under a defender's glove, allowing Katie Currin to score the walk-off game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh to give CNU a 3-2 win over Virginia Wesleyan in game one of the NCAA Super Regional. The Captains overcame a 2-1 deficit in their final two innings to move one win away from the Division III Women's College World Series.
"We had two innings to work with," Christopher Newport head coach Keith Parr said. "With as many runs as we've been scoring and putting the bat on the ball consistently, we knew we had a good chance."
"We know we can come back, we know we can fight back and we just will never give up," added Brickner.
Currin got the scoring started in the bottom of the second with a solo home run to put CNU in front, 1-0. The score would remain that way until the sixth, when Virginia Wesleyan's Julia Sinnett stepped to the plate with a runner on and belted a round-tripper of her own to flip the script and put the Marlins in front.
Some controversy led to the tying run in the bottom of the sixth. With Maddie Hool on second base, Bailey Roberts hit a fly ball to right field. The ball went off the VWU rightfielder and landed in foul territory, with umpires calling it fair and allowing Hool to score.
Tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh, the Captains loaded the bases with no outs, setting up the game-winning play.
"If I'm going to be honest, I didn't even see it," smiled Brickner. "I just ran. I just wanted to be safe and when I heard it went under the glove it was just celebration."
"We knew it was going to be a battle," Parr added. "They've got a lot of experience and they're going to come in and compete and it's just one of those things where it's just going to come down to certain plays and luckily we had a few more plays that fell our way."
Game two of the Super Regional is set for Saturday at 1:00 PM. With a Marlins win, the two would play a deciding game three immediately following the second contest.
