Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4 FARMVILLE, Va. (www.NCCUEaglePride.com) - The North Carolina Central University softball team returns to the nest following four losses during the adidas Longwood Classic on March 10-11 in Farmville, Va., against squads from Longwood and Binghamton.
 
On Saturday, March 10 NCCU dropped a 7-1 decision to Binghamton and concluded the day with a 6-2 loss to Longwood.  During Sunday, March 11 competition, the Lady Eagles fell 6-1 to Longwood and came close to success with a 3-2 loss to Binghamton.
 
Junior class members Nadia Jefferies, Sarah Kaiser and Mae’Risha Watts tallied two runs apiece in the two-day Virginia event.
 
In the first meeting with Binghamton, NCCU gathered four hits and one RBI by senior Andrea Searls, while five runners reached a base.
 
NCCU head coach Theresa Stephens utilized her three-woman pitching roster in the opening contest.  Senior Aurora Baker opened action in the circle with 2.0 innings of play, where she allowed three hits, three earned runs and struck out two Binghamton batters, while facing 14 batters.  Junior Kayla McPeek relieved Baker, against four batters she permitted three hits and two runs.  Newcomer Bianka Molina saw 3.2 innings of action against 13 batters, where she allowed one hit, one run and notched one strikeout.
 
Watts, who amassed one run and one hit in the loss, placed NCCU on the scoreboard in top of the sixth inning.
 
Binghamton was led by Jessica Bump, who concluded Saturday play with one run, one hit and one RBI on four times at bat.  Rhoda Marsteller notched the win with a complete game on the mound.  Marsteller sealed the win with five strikeouts against 26 batters.
 
During game two of the day, NCCU increased its runs to two against the Longwood hosts.
 
In the seven-inning battle, NCCU and LU remained run less until the fourth inning of competition.  Both teams notched one run apiece in the fourth inning, however Longwood brought home three runners for a 4-1 lead in the top of the fifth.  NCCU came within two, by scoring  another run on the bottom of the sixth, nonetheless LU secured the win with two runs in the top of the seventh.
 
Lady Eagle’s Molina pitched 4.0 innings, during which time she allowed LU to tally four hits and three earned runs, while collecting two strikeouts against 19 batters.  Baker relieved Molina to see 2.2 innings of competition, permitting three hits and two runs against nine batters.
 
NCCU’s Jefferies guided the offensive effort with two runs and one hit on three times at bat.
 
Longwood’s Libby Morris pitched a complete game and tallied another pitching win.  Morris allowed five NCCU hits, Jefferies’ two runs and walked one batter, while striking out two batters and facing 27 maroon and gray sluggers.  Brooke Short directed the offensive campaign with two runs, one hit and three RBI on three times at bat.
 
The mighty maroon returned to action on Sunday, March 11 with a 3-2 loss to Binghamton.
 
NCCU opened the contest with a 2-0 lead off of two runs in the bottom of the first.  Binghamton marked a run on the board with a run in the top of the second.  Both team ended the third inning without a run, as BU took the lead with two runs in top of the fourth.  Neither squad managed another run after the top fourth.
 
The maroon and gray finished the contest with two runs, four hits and one RBI, while BU finished with three runs, nine hits and two RBI.
 
Watts and Kaiser tallied one run apiece, as junior Shakemia Edwards notched one RBI.  Molina pitched her first-of-two complete games on the day.  In 9.0 innings of competition, the junior allowed nine hits and three runs against 30 batters.
 
BU’s Lisa Cutrona gathered one run and two hits to guide the offense, while Chelsea Horne, Demi Laney and Kate Price found action in the circle.  Laney obtained the win with 5.0 innings of play, where she allowed four hits and two runs, as she threw eight strikes against 24 Lady Eagles.
 
NCCU concluded the tournament with 6-1 loss to Longwood. 
 
Kaiser put the Lady Eagles on the board with a single run in the top of the third, as LU amassed two runs in the bottom of the second and third innings, and finished with one run apiece in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings. 
 
Molina pitched another complete game with 6.0 innings of action.  She allowed eight hits, six runs and struck out two LU batters. 
 
Megan Baltzell led Longwood’s offense with two runs and two hits, as Ashlee Cornell pitched a complete game and earned her second win of the season.  Cornell amassed four strike outs, despite allowing six hits and one run against 25 batters.
 
Prior to the their final tournament in Buies Creek, N.C., at Campbell University, the Lady Eagles travel to Clinton, S.C., to take on Presbyterian in a doubleheader at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13.
 
For more information on NCCU Softball or updated scores and statistics, visit the official NCCU Athletics website at www.NCCUEaglePride.com.