CARY, N.C. – Sophomore
Hailey Batista drove in six runs on the day, including a go-ahead home run in the first game, to lead the North Carolina Central University softball team to a 10-6 and 12-6 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) doubleheader sweep of Delaware State University on Saturday at Thomas Brooks Park.
Freshman
Jaden Davis had a team-high totals of five hits, five runs and two stolen bases for the Eagles. Classmate
Ashanti Eubanks tallied three hits and scored four times while also earning the pitching win in both ends of the twin bill. Senior
Madison Mifsud and junior
Maegan Garrison joined Eubanks and Batista with three hits apiece. Mifsud and sophomore
Jaylah Barr both supplied four RBI. Barr reached base six times with two hits and four walks.
NC Central (8-19 Overall, 5-3 MEAC) and Delaware State (3-20, 2-6) will conclude the three-game set on Sunday at noon.
GAME ONE: NC Central 10, Delaware State 6
Batista and Mifsud both hit home runs and they each drove in four runs to spark NCCU's offense as the Eagles rallied for a four-run victory. Davis scored three times and joined Batista, Mifsud and Eubanks with two hits apiece.
After Delaware State scored five runs in the top of the second, Mifsud laced a double to the fence in the right field gap to put the Eagles on the board in the third inning. With the bases loaded, Mifsud knocked in all three runners with NCCU's first hit of the contest and cut the deficit to 5-3.
The two teams traded one run apiece in the fifth. After the Hawks plated their third unearned run of the contest, Batista knocked in NCCU's marker in that frame with a hit to centerfield.
The Eagles had the bases loaded with no outs in the home half of the fifth, but Delaware State changed pitchers and sophomore McKenzie Yurcaba was able to retired the next three batters in order, including back-to-back strikeouts to end the frame and keep the visitors ahead by two runs.
Yurcaba was unable to continue to keep NCCU at bay as the Eagles scored its final six runs in the next inning. Batista hit a three-run homer to center field that catapulted NCCU into a 7-6 lead. The victors tacked on three insurance runs, beginning with a solo shot by Mifsud over the fence in left field.
Batista's long ball was her fourth of the season while Mifsud went deep for a second straight weekend.
Eubanks only allowed one run in her 5 2/3 innings of relief work to secure the pitching victory. Eubanks scattered four hits while striking out four Hornets.
GAME TWO: NC Central 12, Delaware State 6
The Eagles scored a season-high 12 runs on 13 hits in the nightcap. Davis contributed three more hits, Barr drove in four runs and freshman
Jai'lyn Edwards chipped in two hits, two RBI and three runs.
The Hornets once again claimed the initial lead with a run in the top of the first. However, NCCU did not wait as long as it did in the first game to rally into the lead as the Eagles scored seven runs in the second innings.
Garrison started that frame with a game-tying deep solo home run to left field, her third round-tripper of the campaign. Batista drove in her fifth and sixth runs of the day with a two-RBI single and Barr immediately followed Batista with a two-run double.
Mifsud singled in that seven-hit frame to extended her hit streak to six game. She has driven in 11 runs in that span.
Eubanks (5-6) once again took over the circle, and just like the first game, she only allowed one earned run for her team-leading fifth victory. Eubanks add three more strikeouts for seven total K's on the day.
NCCU also scored runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to score a dozen runs. Eight different Eagles all hit safely to double up the Hornets.
