NORFOLK, Va. – Senior first baseman
Madison Mifsud supplied fifth-seed North Carolina Central University with an initial lead with a two-run double, but sixth-seeded Coppin State University was able to rally for a 5-3 elimination win in the 2022 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Softball Championship on Thursday morning.
Coppin State (8-36 Overall) remains alive in the postseason tournament with the help of four unearned runs and will play another elimination game on Friday at noon (opponent still to be determined).
NC Central ended its season with a 12-36 overall record.
Mifsud – a Third Team All-MEAC honoree this season -- laced a two-run double into the right-center field gap to score a pair of All-MEAC sophomores in
Jaylah Barr and
Hailey Batista, which provided NCCU with the preliminary 2-nil advantage in the bottom of the third innings. It marked Mifsud's fourth hit of the tournament as well as her fifth and sixth RBI of the event.
Coppin State quickly responded with three runs in the top of the fourth, taking advantage of the first of NCCU's three errors that resulted in the first two unearned runs. Junior Melanie Aguilera drove in CSU's opening run with a single before the designated visitors scored the game-tying and go-ahead runs on a throwing error just three batters later to catapult in front, 3-2.
Another mistake in the field by NCCU allowed Coppin State to score two more critical unearned runs in the top of the fifth to cushion CSU's edge to three runs, 5-2. Aguilera added her second RBI of the contest in that frame with a run-producing groundout.
Sophomore pitcher Vanessa Carrizosa allowed just one NCCU hit over the final four innings to preserve the win for Coppin State, even outlasting a nearly one-hour rain delay in the sixth inning. Carrizosa (2-18) went the distance, but did issue walks to senior
Diamond Porter and freshman
Jai'lyn Edwards in the top of the seventh to give NCCU three at bats with the potential game-tying run in the batter's box. However, Carrizosa was able to retire that trio of threats in order to close out the triumph.
Freshman
Jaden Davis did supply a sacrifice fly in the top of the seventh that scored Porter for NCCU's final run during that late rally attempt. Davis finished the season with a team-best .315 batting average on the season.
NC Central outhit CSU, 5-4, with five different players recording hits. Junior Avianna Peterson had half of Coppin State's four hits.
