DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University softball team will try and build on its first two wins when the Eagles play a pair of games against Marist College and host Gardner-Webb University in the Red and Black Tournament on Friday-Saturday, March 2-3.
 
GWU sports information will be providing live stats (different links) for all four NCCU games at Brinkley Stadium. Fans can follow NCCU softball all season by visiting NCCUEaglePride.com and on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
 
Game Info

Friday, March 2
10:00 AM - NCCU vs. Marist | STATS
2:00 PM – NCCU at Gardner-Webb | STATS
 
Saturday, March 3
10:00 AM - NCCU vs. Marist | STATS
12:00 PM – NCCU at Gardner-Webb | STATS
 
N.C. Central Softball
 
The Eagles swept Howard University, 4-1 and 8-0, in their home opener last Friday. NCCU (2-6 Overall) has a .216 team batting average, 3.57 team ERA and .951 team fielding percentage.
 
Senior Courtney Mirabella is the reigning MEAC Pitcher of the Week. Mirabella is 2-3 with a 1.80 ERA. Her 49 strikeouts in 35.0 innings pitched gives her an average of 9.8 strikeouts per seven innings that ranks 22nd in NCAA Division I.
 
Mirabella is one of three Eagles that is batting over .300 on the season at .333 and she has a team-high four stolen bases. Sophomore third baseman Ava Dolan tops the lineup with a .368 average and eight RBI, six runs, one triple and three home runs. Freshman shortstop Jacobia Johnson has had a pair of multi-hit games and sports a .357 average. Junior outfielder Aleyah Evans (.217) has a team-best two doubles and is second on the team with five RBI.
 
NCCU will be playing Marist for the first time under second year head coach Vashion Johnson. The Eagles last played the Red Foxes in 2015 with the two teams splitting the doubleheader in Durham.
 
The maroon and gray will play four total games against Gardner-Webb this season with another doubleheader on Tuesday, March 13. The two in-state programs met in Boiling Springs last season with the Runnin' Bulldogs sweeping the set, 4-0 and 11-10.
 
Marist Softball
 
The Red Foxes picked up two wins in five tries in their season-opening weekend tournament at the Madeira Beach Invitational. Marist (2-3 Overall) picked up wins against Rhode Island and Eastern Michigan while suffering losses to Villanova, Arkansas and Middle Tennessee.
 
Sophomore catcher Jade Sinskul paces the Red Foxes with a .500 average and is followed closely by freshman shortstop Caroline Baratta (.438) and sophomore outfielder Ali Milam (.400). Sinskul and Milam have accounted for Marist's two home runs while Baratta has a team-high four RBI. Brittany Colombo (.364) and Miranda Perez (.333) are two senior infielders that have also been regulars for the Red Foxes for a few years.
 
Marist has an 8.09 staff ERA. However, juniors Megan Beiermeister (1-1, 2.52 ERA) and Brooke Peterson (1-0, 4.57 ERA) each have a win and ERA's under 5.00. Beiermeister has a 24-8 career record in her three seasons.
 
Gardner-Webb Softball
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs boast a winning record despite going 1-3 in the University of Georgia Tournament last weekend. Gardner-Webb (10-7 Overall) is 3-0 against teams from the MEAC (Hampton, North Carolina A&T x2).
 
GWU sports a .307 team batting average with freshman Katie Prebble (.422) and junior outfielder Andria Booth (.414) both batting over .400. Prebble leads NCAA Division I with 10 home runs and 26 RBI. Junior outfielder Kaylee Wacaster, who has added 16 RBI with eight extra-base hits, has a team-high 18 runs scored for a Runnin' Bulldogs squad that is averaging nearly six runs per game.
 
The pitching duo of freshman Laken Myers (3-3, 3.94 ERA) and senior Ashley Wark (6-4, 5.02 ERA) have been GWU's starting pitchers in 16 of 17 games and the winning pitcher in nine of their 10 triumphs.