CARY, N.C. – Senior catcher
Madison Mifsud collected three hits and drove in four runs to lead the North Carolina Central University softball team to a 9-3 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) home victory over Coppin State University on Sunday at Thomas Brooks Park.
Mifsud's big performance included a go-ahead, three-run home run as NCCU won the rubber game of the series.
NCCU honored its Senior Class before first pitch, including Mifsud, first baseman
Madison Webb and outfielder/second baseman
Diamond Porter.
NC Central (11-30 Overall, 8-10 MEAC) clinched a top-six position in the league standings with the series triumph to qualify for the 2022 MEAC Softball Championships with one weekend regular season series left.
Coppin State (4-35, 4-14) is clinging to the sixth position in the league standings heading after dropping the series.
NCCU took a 2-1 lead with a pair of runs in third inning. Freshman
Jaden Davis started the frame with a walk and eventually scored on an error to level the score. Mifsud then knocked in sophomore
D'Nahjah Harrell with her second single to put the Eagles ahead.
However, CSU junior Isabella Zalba was able to even the scoreboard at 2-2 with a solo home run that she curled just fair down the left field line in the top of the fifth. It was her second homer of the season.
The maroon and gray regained the lead for good on back-to-back home runs by Mifsud and junior
Maegan Garrison. Mifsud launched her third home run of the season over the left-field fence. Garrison followed with a deep solo shot to straightaway centerfield, which is her fourth long ball of the campaign.
NCCU tacked on three more runs in the sixth to pull way to a seven-run advantage. The late scoring featured an RBI-double by sophomore
Hailey Batista and a run-producing single by Garrison.
Mifsud finished the contest 3-for-3 with a walk and four RBI. Garrison added two RBI. Porter collected a double on her senior day. Harrell chipped in three bunt singles, three runs scored and two stolen bases.
Freshman
Ashanti Eubanks (7-9) pitched a complete-game and whiffed seven Coppin State batters on the way to her team-high seventh win of the season.
NC Central will next play a non-conference game at East Carolina University on Tuesday at 5 p.m.