Graduate student Caiti Mickles belted a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning and sophomore pitcher Kenzi Lyall threw a complete game shutout in a 1-0 win over the defending NCAA Division III champions and No. 1 ranked Christopher Newport to spoil the CNU home-opener in Newport News, Virginia on Thursday afternoon.

With the game scoreless, Mickles launched her third homer of the season over the left-center wall to lead off the seventh inning, giving Pfeiffer (9-4) the 1-0 lead.

In the home half of the inning, Pfeiffer’s Lyall walked the CNU leadoff batter. After recording the first out on a fielder’s choice, Lyall forced a pop up for the second out of the inning.

A wild pitch then put the CNU (3-2) runner in scoring position.  CNU would then get runners of first and second following a walk, but Lyall forced a pup up to second base to end the inning, sending Pfeiffer to the win over the top-ranked Captains.

The Pfeiffer win snaps a 32-game home winning streak for CNU, which dated back to April 1, 2021. Last season CNU was 26-0 in home games.

CNU sophomore pitcher Kate Alger suffered her first loss in her collegiate career.

CNU stranded 13 runners on base, while their five hits were all singles.

Pfeiffer’s Kenzi Lyall stuck out five CNU batters on the day, which puts her with 44 on the season, ranking first among USA South pitchers.

The last time CNU was shut out was April 17, 2021 when it fell in the first game of a doubleheader to Salisbury by an 8-0 score, a span of nearly 23 months (691 days).