CARY, N.C. – Junior second baseman/outfielder
Diamond Porter hit her first two collegiate home runs – one in each game – to lead the North Carolina Central University softball team to a 10-2 and 5-4 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep of South Carolina State University on Saturday afternoon at Thomas Brooks Park.
The Eagles hit five total home runs in the two victories. NCCU improved to 5-14 on the season while starting 2-0 against conference competition. The Bulldogs dropped to 1-18 and 0-2.
NC Central will go for its fourth straight win and the three-game series sweep when the two teams play the series finale on Sunday at 2 p.m. (game time moved back due to the Tobacco Road Marathon starting and finishing at the USA Baseball/Thomas Brooks Park complex in the morning).
GAME ONE: NC Central 10, South Carolina State 2 (6 Inn.)
Sophomore shortstop
Jaylah Barr started NCCU's home run parade with her team-leading fourth long ball in the second inning. Porter went deep two batters later and freshman
Jai'lyn Edwards highlighted a six-run fourth inning with her first collegiate home run, which was a two-run, opposite field shot to right.
Barr, Porter, Edwards and freshman
Jaden Davis all drove in two runs as the Eagles pulled away to the run-rule victory. Junior
Maegan Garrison joined Barr, Porter and Davis with two hits apiece.
Hamby ended the contest with a run-producing triple that scored Davis with no outs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Six different Eagles stole a base.
Freshman
Ashanti Eubanks pitched 3 2/3 innings of relief after NCCU's starter was taken out of the circle due to precautionary injury prevention. Eubanks (2-5) only allowed one run to earn her second straight victory and she had four strikeouts.
GAME TWO: NC Central 5, South Carolina State 4
The Bulldogs held leads of 2-0 and 4-3, but a pair of home runs rallied the Eagles both times. Porter launched her second home run of the day, a two-run shot to left, with two outs in the sixth that put the Eagles ahead for good.
Porter, who got robbed of another home run in the fourth when the SCSU centerfielder tumbled over the fence catching her deep fly, exacted revenge with a no-doubter in the sixth as she finished the day with a team-best four RBI.
After freshman
Jaidyn Hamby put the Eagles on the board with a sacrifice fly, sophomore
Hailey Batista connected for a two-run homer to left in the bottom of the third to provide NCCU with its first lead at 3-2.
SC State tied it up with a run in the fourth and regained the lead with its own sac fly in the fifth.
Eubanks tossed the first three innings before freshman
Anisa Reynolds hurled the final four innings. Both pitchers had three strikeouts while Reynolds (1-2) secured her first collegiate win. Eubanks finished the day pitching 6 2/3 innings between the two games with seven total K's.
The Eagles swiped five more bases for 11 total on the day. Davis accounted for three of the thefts while Porter got one in each game to increase her team-leading total to five stolen bases.
