NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The second-ranked Salisbury University softball team began Friday with a 6-1 win over Mary Washington before falling to the No. 1 CNU Captains, 10-4, in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Championship Series.

BOX SCORE VS. UMW
BOX SCORE VS. CNU

HOW IT HAPPENED – UMW

• After a scoreless two and a half innings, Salisbury used a six-run third inning to storm ahead of Mary Washington.
• Francesca Cuttitta reached on an error to open the inning and stole second. Abby Mace drove Cuttitta in on an RBI single. Two batters later, Lindsey Windsor plated Mace on an RBI single. Later in the inning, Meghan Reed plated a pair on an RBI single followed by an RBI double by Lauren Meyers and a sacrifice fly by Carly Galbraith to give Salisbury the 6-0 lead.
• Mary Washington cut into the lead with an RBI double by Rayna Lloyd in the fourth inning.
• Windsor and Savannah Sheats had runners in scoring position in the sixth and seventh innings but escaped the inning with no runs across to push SU to the championship series.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES VS. UMW

• Meghan Reed and Lindsey Windsor each tallied a pair of hits and scored a run. Reed drove in two with her RBI single in the third.
• Lauren Meyers hit her 17th double of the season with the RBI two-bagger in the third.
• Nicole Ortega earned her seventh win of the season in five innings of work. She allowed five hits but only gave up an unearned run.

HOW IT HAPPENED – CNU

• Salisbury got on the board first in the opening inning of the game. Mace led off the game with a bunt single before Reed reached on an infield single to plate Mace. A batter later, Meyers reached on a fielder's choice to score Windsor to give SU the early 2-0 lead.
• Caroline Helmer hit an RBI single in the bottom half of the first to cut the SU lead in half, 2-1.
• The Sea Gulls got the run back and added a run in the second inning. Cuttitta scored on an error by the CNU shortstop before Natalie Paoli hit an RBI single that scored Mace from third to push Salisbury's lead to 4-1.
• CNU tied the game at four in the bottom of the second after a Bailey Roberts RBI single and a two-run home run by Kaitlyn Hasty.
• The Captains took the lead in the third on a two-run single by Maddie Hool.
• The Captains added insurance in the bottom of the sixth with a four-run inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Sarah Proctor.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES VS. CNU

• Abby Mace scored twice and collected two hits.
• Lindsey Windsor notched a pair of hits.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

• Abby Mace, Natalie Paoli and Lindsey Windsor were each selected for the All-C2C Tournament Team following the championship game.

UP NEXT

• With a 36-6 record, Salisbury will wait for a potential at-large berth into the NCAA Championship Tournament.
• The selection show is scheduled for Monday, May 9 at 1 p.m. on NCAA.com.

Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football and the Metropolitan Swimming and Diving Conference for men's and women's swimming. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, and dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on-and-off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 22 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 186 conference championships and 41 Academic All-Americans.

To learn more about the tradition of excellence with Sea Gull Athletics, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or on social media @SUSeaGulls.