DURHAM, N.C. – The Lady Eagles of North Carolina Central University have had to wait a week to try and extend their current four-game win streak but will finally have a chance to add to their win total visiting UNC Charlotte on Wednesday for a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.
 
Wednesday, April 1
North Carolina Central University at Charlotte
Charlotte, N.C. (Phillips Softball Complex)
NCCU AUDIO – LIVE STATS – CHARLOTTE PPV VIDEO
 
To keep up with Wednesday's action, listen to the game broadcast at NCCUEaglePride.com or the NCCU Sports Network mobile app, or follow @NCCUAthletics on Twitter.
 
North Carolina Central University Softball
 
The Lady Eagles last swept Montreat College, 6-4 and 9-0, on Wednesday, March 25 to move over .500 at 14-12. NCCU has won four straight games but the players and coaching staff has had to wait to try and lengthen its win streak with this past weekend's three-game MEAC series against Bethune-Cookman University being postponed until April 7-8.
 
NCCU is having its best softball season since the institution transitioned from NCAA Division II and started playing against DI opposition in 2008. The Lady Eagles have the best overall record out of 12 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference softball programs.
 
As of the current NCAA statistical rankings (thru games March 29), the Lady Eagles batters are 85th out of 289 DI programs with a .299 batting average. Senior Emerie Germ headlines NCCU's lineup with a staggering .481 average that ranks 15th best individually in the nation.
 
Germ paces the Maroon and Gray with 20 RBI and shares the team lead of 20 runs scored with junior Casey Hargett and five home runs with sophomore Dominique Wilson. Hargett (.371) and Wilson (.354) also average over one hit per game.
 
Four other Lady Eagles are batting at .250 or above including sophomore Jenny Tracy (.291), sophomore Brianna Hampton (.286), junior Demiree Briones (.280) and senior Martha Batie (.250).
 
Batie has swiped a team-best seven bases.
 
Hampton, who has been one of NCCU's hottest hitters batting .462 during the squad's current four-game win streak, is coming off her first career complete-game shutout in only her four pitching appearance of the season.
 
Wilson (5-6, 3.43 ERA, 79.2 IP, 9 CG, 71 SO) and junior London Booker (8-6, 5.36 ERA, 77.0 IP, 6 CG, 60 SO) continue so share majority of the time in the pitcher's circle.
 
NCCU softball will be playing Charlotte for the first time in the program's DI era.
 
Charlotte Softball
 
The 49ers took two of three games from fellow Conference USA foe Louisiana Tech this past weekend to move back over .500 at 16-15 overall. Charlotte is 8-4 at home.
 
A quartet of 49ers pace a balanced Charlotte lineup as the boast batting averages within 17 points of each other including outfielder Jessica Plemmons (.297), outfielder Courtney Carroll (.296), third baseman Chelsea Lisikatos (.293) and designated player Grace Beatty (.280).
 
The 49ers are averaging 4.6 runs per game with Plemmons and Lisikatos driving nearly one-third (32%) of the squads runs with 24 and 21 RBI, respectively. Lisikatos has hit eight home runs.
 
Senior right-handed pitcher Lexi Betancourt has pitched in 23 of Charlotte's 31 games and has an 11-10 record with a 2.99 ERA. Betancourt, who ranks tied for 15th in NCAA Division I with five shutouts, is averaging nearly one strikeout per inning with 136 K's in 138.1 innings of work.
 
The 49ers have played strong defense committing an average of less than one error per game.