WILMINGTON, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University softball team was edged by host UNC Wilmington, 4-2, and then run-ruled, 8-0 (6 Innings), by Bucknell University in Saturday's action at the Hampton Inn University Area Seahawk Softball Classic.
 
NCCU (0-9) will play the same two teams again on Sunday in the last day of the Seahawk Classic. The Lady Eagles are slated to battle Bucknell at 10 a.m. and UNCW at 3 p.m. All games are at Boseman Field.
 
UNC Wilmington 4, N.C. Central 2
 
A late rally by the Lady Eagles fell short as the Seahawks doubled up NCCU, 4-2. UNCW (9-2) has won seven straight games after clinching that win.
 
Senior catcher Casey Hargett led the Maroon and Gray with a 2 for 3 performance, including NCCU's lone RBI. Classmate third baseman Markell Wylie also reached base twice with a walk and a single.
 
The Seahawks grabbed a quick 1-nil advantage in the bottom of the first with three singles. An unearned run in the second doubled up the hosts lead to 2-0. UNCW tacked on two important insurance runs in the fifth.
 
Junior center fielder Merritt Wilkinson paced the hosts with two hits, including an RBI-double in the fifth, and two runs scored.
 
NCCU broke up the shutout bid in the sixth. Sophomore Danyelle Noland was hit by a pitch to start the frame and eventually scored on an infield single by Hargett. The Lady Eagles inched closer with an unearned run in the seventh. Freshman Breanna Carter was the catalyst for NCCU's second run, reaching on a two-out error and then stealing third and scoring on a passed ball.
 
Senior London Booker went the distance for the Lady Eagles. Booker (0-3) took the loss allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits and one walk. Booker did register two strikeouts.
 
Junior Peyton Jordan (3-1) –a Second Team All-CAA performer last year – tossed four scoreless innings in her start to pick up the win. Sophomore Sarah Davis (1) tossed three effective innings of relief with six strikeouts for her first save.
 
Bucknell 8, N.C. Central 0 (6 Innings)
 
The Bison held NCCU to just three hits and used a big first inning to pull away for the 8-nil win in six innings. Bucknell (4-4) leveled its record to .500 with two wins on Saturday. The Bison defeated UNCW, 12-4, to end the Seahawks win streak just before playing the Lady Eagles.
 
Bucknell scored six runs in the top of the first with a pair of two-RBI doubles off the bats of sophomore first baseman Meghan Kovac and junior catcher Christina Martinez and capped by a two-run homer by third baseman junior Chaylen Andolino.
 
Junior Jennifer Allison settled down after a rough first inning in her first NCCU pitching start. Allison (0-2) held the Seahawks scoreless for the next four innings but still suffered the loss after allowing the initial six runs.
 
UNCW tacked on its seventh and eighth runs in the top of the sixth. The Seahawks only had eight hits but those base knocks included four doubles and a home run. Kovac connected for three hits.
 
NCCU's best chance at scoring came in the first after Noland and junior Jenny Tracy both singled. However, senior lefty Amanda Fazio wiggled out of the danger with a groundout. Fazio (2-2) tossed five shutout innings while fanning six for the win.
 
Hargett poked her third hit of the day, a single in the fourth to account for the Lady Eagles third and final hit of the contest.
 
The scoreless loss marked the sixth time NCCU has been shutout in its first nine games.