LYNCHBURG, Va. – North Carolina Central University let a pair of close games slip away late with in two non-conference losses to Kent State University and Rider University in Friday afternoon's session of the Liberty Softball Classic at the Liberty Softball Field.

Fourteen of the 16 runs allowed by NCCU on the day were given up in the fifth inning or later. The Lady Eagles were only trailing Kent State 1-0 after four innings but eventually lost 5-1 NCCU was then in a 1-1 deadlock with Rider after four innings but got blown out late in an 11-1 loss.

North Carolina Central (10-10) will play two more games in the Liberty Softball Classic on Saturday with showdowns against Princeton University at 10 AM and Saint Francis University at 12:15 PM.

The Golden Flashes from Kent State, who are receiving votes in the current ESPN.com/USA Softball poll after beating two top-25 teams earlier in the month, took advantage of a couple late Lady Eagles errors to get on the scoreboard and then held on to win by four runs. KSU improved to 14-6 overall.

NCCU matched Kent State with six hits apiece including senior Emerie Germ smashing her fifth home run of the season in the sixth to account for the Lady Eagles lone tally.
Junior starter Dominique Wilson kept the Golden Flashes off the board for three innings but errors in the fourth and fifth helped Kent State build up a 3-nil lead. Wilson (4-5) took the loss going the distance allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits. KSU tacked on its final two final runs in the sixth.

NCCU had a couple other chances at putting up runs with consecutive two-out singles in the third by junior Casey Hargett and sophomore Jenny Tracy and a two-out double by junior De'Onna Smith in the sixth but KSU sophomore starter Ronnie Ladines ended both threats with inning-ending strikeouts. Ladines (4-3) had seven total K's in the complete-game victory.

Senior Kim Kirkpatrick scored twice and junior Shelbi Titlon had a two-run double to highlights KSU's offensive output.

The Lady Eagles grabbed a quick 1-0 lead on Rider in the first inning of their second game. NCCU had at least one base runner in every inning but were held scoreless for the final six innings by sophomore starter Delany DeMello (2-2).

Germ once again manufactured NCCU's run with a single down the right field line that scored Hargett.

The Canton, Ga., product has 18 RBI in 19 games.

A pair of NCCU errors allowed the Broncs to tie the contest in the third before junior Dana Sensi pushed Rider ahead with a two-run homer in the fifth. Sensi and classmate Emily Cottrell jump started an eight-run seventh inning with back-to-back homers to leadoff the big stanza. RU sent 12 batters to the plate in the inning to make a close contest seem like a big blowout.

Hargett and Germ had doubles in the fifth and sixth, respectively, but were left stranded both times. Hargett's double nearly scored junior Angelique Perricelli, who had a pair of infield singles, from first but she was gunned down at the plate.

Rider (5-9) finished with a 14-6 hit advantage including seven base knocks in the seventh.