PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – Sophomore
Hailey Batista totaled five hits, including three doubles, and scored four times to highlight play for the North Carolina Central University softball team in the final two games of a MEAC road series at University of Maryland Eastern Shore that spanned across Saturday and Sunday.
The Hawks won both contests by scores of 7-6 and 9-5 to rally for the series win after dropping the first contest 11-9. Maryland Eastern Shore improved to 8-18 on the season and 5-1 in league play. NCCU dropped to 6-18 and 3-3.
Senior
Madison Mifsud, who hit a grand slam in the series-opening triumph for the Eagles, added four more RBI for eight total in the series. Mifsud has four hits in the last two games.
NC Central is next scheduled to host Campbell University on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
GAME TWO: Maryland Eastern Shore 7, NC Central 6
With the contest tied 6-6 after five innings, play was stopped on Saturday due to rain. The two teams returned to the diamond to complete the final two innings on Sunday and sophomore Julia Garcia came up with an RBI-doubles in the bottom of the sixth to win the two-day affair for the Hawks.
Mifsud supplied NCCU with an initial 1-nil advantage with her fifth RBI on Saturday, which was a single in the first that plated Batista.
However, two errors by the Eagles allowed Eastern Shore to score four unearned runs in the second and jump ahead 4-1. NCCU scored the next five runs to regain a 6-4 edge, but the Hawks scored twice in the home half of the fourth to level the score before the rain halted the game for the night.
Batista was 4-for-4 from the plate, including two doubles, two RBI and two runs. Sophomore
Jaylah Barr chipped in two hits. Barr, junior
Diamond Porter and freshman
Jaden Davis all drove in one run for the Eagles.
Eastern Shore finished with a slight 10-9 hit advantage with sophomore Tatum Kresley and junior Tyanna Roberts each collecting three hits from the top two positions in Eastern Shore's lineup.
GAME THREE: Maryland Eastern Shore 9, NC Central 5
In the rubber game of the series, NCCU held early leads of 2-0 and 3-1 before the Hawks scored four runs in the fourth and three more times in the sixth to pull away to the four-run victory.
Mifsud contributed three of NCCU's eight hits with two singles and a double. She finished with three RBI after driving in one run with a double in the first and two more Eagles with a single in the seventh.
Davis and Batista both tacked on doubles to left field for the maroon and gray. Davis also scored twice.
Kresley continued to be a menace for NCCU as she recorded three more hits from the leadoff position. Kresley, who totaled 10 hits in the series, scored three times for the victors.
Eastern Shore rattled off 11 hits off the bats of eight different hitters.
