TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The North Carolina Central University softball team matched the preseason favorites in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Southern Division in total hits on the day, but host Florida A&M University took advantage of errors in the first game and used timely hitting in the second game to narrowly prevail 3-2 and 4-2 in Saturday's doubleheader at the Rattler Softball Complex.
 
NC Central (9-17 Overall, 0-2 MEAC) and Florida A&M (10-21, 2-0) will conclude the three-game, league-opening series on Sunday at Noon.
 
GAME ONE: Florida A&M 3, NC Central 2
 
The Lady Eagles constructed a 2-1 lead after five innings, but four late errors by NCCU resulted in the game-tying and game-winning unearned runs scoring for the Florida A&M.
 
NCCU outhit the Rattlers, 7-3, with senior Aleyah Evans topping the maroon and gray with a pair of hits. Her second knock was a bases-load double off the left field fence that scored two runs in the top of the fourth.
 
A walk by junior Dalika Wallace and two consecutive singles off the bats of junior Tamiera Sanchez and freshman Madison Mifsud filled the bases before Evans ripped long double.
 
Evans leads NCCU with 20 RBI.
 
Sophomore starter Kiara Hurley held FAMU to just three hits, but suffered the loss because of the errors. Hurley (8-9) only allowed one earned run while striking out four Rattlers.
 
Senior Tyra Bowers provided the biggest bat from atop the hosts lineup. Her sacrifice fly in the third gave FAMU the initial 2-1 lead while her RBI double to left in the fifth tied the score. Junior Hera Varmah scored twice. The final game-winning Rattler run in the sixth was scored without the benefit of a hit in the inning as NCCU committed three infield errors in the frame.
 
Junior Kyaira Brown (7-8) picked up the win, allowing two runs off seven hits with three strikeouts and two walks.
 
GAME TWO: Florida A&M 4, NC Central 2
 
Trailing 4-0, the Lady Eagles scored two runs in the sixth and then brought the potential tying run up to bat in the seventh to make things interesting late. However, a strikeout by freshman pitcher Brandice Boatwright ended the game to provide the Rattlers with the nightcap victory and sweep the double dip.
 
Wallace drove in NCCU's runs with a two-RBI double in the sixth to cut the deficit in half. The innings started with a walk drawn by starting pitcher Claire Eosso. Sophomore Jacobia Johnson then reached on an error while sacrifice bunting pinch runner freshman Francheska Steins into scoring position. Steins and Johnson scored on Wallace's deep shot to left.
 
Mifsud led off the seventh with a double over the center fielders outreach arm, allowing NCCU to bring the potential tying run up to bat three times, but two groundouts and Boatwright's fifth strikeout of the game kept the final score in favor of FAMU. Boatwright (3-4) only allowed four hits in her complete game performance.
 
The Rattlers doubled-up NCCU 8-4 in the hits column. Freshman Kimiya Watkins led FAMU with two hits and two runs scored. Watkins two-run single in the fourth inning proved to be two important insurance runs at the time. Florida A&M first got on the board with a two-run single by Varmah, the Rattlers' fourth straight single in the second.
 
Wallace, the reigning MEAC Player of the Week, has reached base in 14 straight games for NC Central. Mifsud and sophomore Olivia Daniel were the only Lady Eagles to hit safely in both ends of the twin bill.
 
Eosso (1-5) was tagged with the loss, allowing four runs on eight hits over the first five innings.