DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central University softball team used the long ball to win game one 9-3 but six errors in the second game cost the Lady Eagles the doubleheader sweep as South Carolina State University won 8-3 to complete play on Saturday afternoon at Parkwood Athletic Field.
 
NCCU (15-21 Overall) and SCSU (6-19) will play the rubber game on Sunday at Noon with both teams sharing matching 1-7 records in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC).
 
SCSU took an initial 1-nil advantage in the first game thanks to a pair of NCCU errors in the top of the second. Junior Ciana Burt scored the Lady Bulldogs unearned run. The visitors then nearly scored another run in the third on a single to center by senior Mikala Johnson but the runner trying to score from second was thrown out on a one-hop throw by senior outfielder Martha Batie to senior catcher Emerie Germ, who was blocking the plate in perfect position before applying the tag.
 
A blooper by junior Jasmine Greer just inside the left-field foul line beyond the infield dirt scored Burt again in the fourth to double up SCSU's lead to 2-0.
 
After Batie robbed a potential two-run homer off the bat of SCSU freshman Deanna Sullivan in the top of the fifth with a leaping catch over the center-field fence where she held onto the ball after flipped over the fence, the momentum in the opener shifted in favor of the hosts.
 
The Lady Eagles soared ahead with four runs in the bottom of the fifth and five more in the sixth highlighted by three-run homers by both Germ and junior Casey Hargett.
 
Hargett put NCCU on the board with an RBI-single past the diving second baseman. A couple batters later, Germ put the Lady Eagles ahead for good with her team-leading sixth blast to left.
 
A deep single that hit off the right-field fence by pinch hitter Brianna Hampton scored the first of five runs in the fifth. Hargett launched her three-run shot down the left field line and a sophomore Dominique Wilson sacrifice fly capped NCCU's outburst.
 
Wilson (6-9) went the distance and only allowed one earned run for her sixth victory. Wilson had three strikeouts over her seven innings of work.
 
NCCU finished with an 11-4 hit surplus with Hargett, Batie and junior Kayleigh Brueck all hitting safely twice.
 
The two teams traded a pair of unearned runs to start the nightcap before a two-run homer by freshman Jada Richardson regained a two run advantage, 4-2, for SCSU in the third.  
 
The visitors led grew to 8-2 with one run in the fifth and three unearned tallies in the sixth due to three errors by the Lady Eagles. NCCU made a total of 11 errors in the doubleheader.
 
An RBI-double in the seventh by junior pinch hitter Demiree Briones accounted for the Lady Eagles final run. Junior Angelique Perricelli had a RBI-single in the second to highlight NCCU's early runs.
Hargett led off the first with a single to extend her hit streak to seven games. Six different Lady Eagles had a hit but NCCU was outhit 11-6.
 
Junior London Booker (8-12) took the loss despite only three of her five runs allowed over the first five innings being earned.