ORANGEBURG, S.C. — Freshman Jacobia Johnson reached base three times and scored twice late in helping the North Carolina Central University softball team rally to an 8-5 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Southern Division victory over host South Carolina State University Sunday afternoon.
 
The Lady Eagles completed the three-game series sweep as senior starting pitcher Courtney Mirabella recorded her third straight complete-game victory against the Lady Bulldogs.
 
NCCU (14-24 Overall, 5-7 MEAC) moved into sole possession of fourth place in the Southern Division standing with North Carolina A&T State University losing at Savannah State University Sunday. The Lady Eagles will conclude regular season play with a three-game series against the Aggies next weekend. The winner of that series will clinch a playoff spot for the 2018 MEAC Championship Tournament. NCCU and NCAT would both need considerable help to catch third-place Savannah State, who has the tiebreaker against both teams and is playing last-place SCSU next week.
 
Junior Aleyah Evans led the maroon and gray with two RBI.
 
The top third of the Lady Eagles' lineup accounted for six of their 11 hits. Johnson and freshman Aiyana Campbell had two hits and a walk apiece while sophomore Ava Dolan provided two singles, one RBI and a stolen base home. All three of them scored twice.
 
NCCU was trailing 2-1 before scoring a pair of runs in the fifth. Dolan knocked in Johnson with a single and she later scored on an error. The Lady Bulldogs were able to level the score one last time at 3-all with an unearned run, but the Lady Eagles quickly reestablished the lead for good with four runs in the sixth. The response featured Johnson knocking in freshman Kelsey Ray with a single for the go-ahead run, a sac bunt RBI by Evans and Dolan scoring on a double-steal home with Evans swiping second on the play.
 
SCSU (1-31, 1-11) cut the deficit in half with its last two runs coming in the sixth. Senior Jada Richardson knocked in the two runs with a double down the left field line. However, Dolan made a nice catch reaching over the fence in foul territory down the third base line to end the threat.
 
Mirabella, who was coming off a no-hitter and two wins on Saturday, gutted out her third win of the weekend to improve to 13-14. The Bradenton, Florida, product struck out nine Lady Bulldogs in all three triumphs.
 
Evans provided the Lady Eagles with the initial lead by poking a single to left in the top of the first that plated Campbell. However, SCSU responded with two runs in the home half of the opening frame to jump ahead. The rally featured a deep double by Jada Lake to tie the score and a single to center Quina Hodge to put the hosts in front by one for the next three innings.
 
NCCU surpassed its win total from last year with the victory, marking improvement for the Lady Eagles from the year prior in each of head coach Vashion Johnson's first two seasons at the helm in Durham.