PRINCESS ANNE, Md. — Junior third baseman
Dalika Wallace continued to tear the cover off the ball with four hits and four RBI as she helped the North Carolina Central University softball team to a non-conference road split at University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday afternoon.
The Hawks held on for a 6-5 win in the first game while the Lady Eagles prevailed 9-1 in the nightcap. NCCU departed at 13-21 overall and the Eastern Shore finished the day 6-23. The Lady Eagles won 4-of-5 games against the Hawks this season.
NC Central next hosts Bethune-Cookman University in a three-game MEAC Southern Division series at Thomas Brooks Park. The Lady Eagles and Wildcats will first play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. followed by the finale on Sunday at Noon.
GAME ONE: Eastern Shore 6, NC Central 5
Wallace, who led NCCU with three hits and three RBI, gave the visitors an initial 1-nil advantage with an RBI double in the top of the first. However, the Hawks scored the next six runs before holding on for the one-run win.
Wallace went 3-for-4. All three of her hits were extra-base hits. Wallace collected a pair of doubles before belting a two-run homer with one-out in the seventh to pull the maroon and gray within one run.
Eastern Shore plated four runs in the first and two more in the third. Sophomore Stephanie Huff paced the Hawks with two hits, two RBI and two runs scored. Her single to the left field gap in the first inning plated the first two runs to put the hosts up for good. Huff scored in that frame and then started the third inning with a double before scoring again.
The Lady Eagles got their next two runs in the fourth to pull within three, 6-3. The frame featured three singles, including a run-producing base knock off the bat of senior
Claire Eosso.
Wallace launched her team-leading sixth home run over the left field fence to close out NCCU's scoring with one out in the seventh.
NCCU left six runners on base as the Shore's junior starting pitcher Leann Gingrich picked up the win. Gingrich allowed five runs – three earned – on eight hit over 6 1/3 innings. But it took sophomore Nasya Goodman coming in relief after the Wallace home run to record the final two outs to preserve the Eastern Shore victory.
GAME TWO: NC Central 9, Eastern Shore 1 (Six Innings)
The Lady Eagles bounced back to win the finale. NCCU scored three runs in the top of the first to take control early before prevailing coasting to the eight-run rule triumph.
Sophomore
Nadia Blevins was hit by a pitch and stole second to start NCCU's first inning surge. Blevins, who swiped four bases in the game and five on the day to increase her team high total to 20 on the season, scored the opening run on an RBI single by Wallace. The final two runs in the inning were unearned, but was capped with a run-producing single by senior
Aleyah Evans.
Blevins accounted for NCCU's fourth run in the third inning. She walked and stole second to start the frame before trotting home on a single by junior
Tamiera Sanchez.
The Lady Eagles tacked on three more runs in the fifth with Evans coming up with the big hit. Evans launched a two-run homer to left for her fifth of the campaign. The final pair of runs were plated in the sixth. Blevins singles and swiped second and third before scoring the first on a sacrifice by sophomore
Olivia Daniels. Wallace walked and stole second before scoring the final run on a sacrifice by Sanchez.
Evans finished the contest 2-for-2 with a walk, a home run and three RBI. Sanchez also had two hits and Blevins scored on three occasions.
Sophomore starting pitcher
Kiara Hurley rebounded from a rough start in the opener to gain the win in the nightcap for the Lady Eagles. Hurley (11-12) had her shutout bid broken up in the fifth as the Hawks scored their only run in that frame, but the southpaw limited Eastern Shore to just four hits while striking out five in the complete-game victory.
