BALTIMORE, Md. – The North Carolina Central University softball team was able to jump out to a four-run lead on the road, but host Coppin State University scored the final six runs in the early Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game on Saturday to rally for a 6-4 win.
 
Coppin State (9-24 Overall, 6-10 MEAC) is the hottest team in the league, winning its last five consecutive conference games. NC Central (13-27, 11-3) remains in the top position in the league standings as Morgan State University dropped its first game on Saturday to South Carolina State University.
 
The visiting Eagles outhit the host Eagles, 12-5, but three NCCU errors led to four CSU unearned runs.
 
Freshman Takia Nichols had a team-high three hits for the maroon and gray while classmate Makiya Graves and junior Jaylah Barr each had two hits.
 
NC Central scored all four of its runs in the second inning, highlighted by a two-run single by sophomore Jay'lyn Edwards. Graves and junior Maegan Garrison also had run-scoring singles in that frame.
 
Coppin State did most of its damage from atop its lineup. Freshman Celeste Gonzales had a hit, a walk and stolen base while scoring twice from the leadoff position. Fellow freshman Manaia Fonoti batted behind Gonzales and she supplied a single, an RBI-double, a stolen base and one run scored.
 
Junior utility player Vanessa Carrizosa, who is a two-time All-MEAC honoree already for Coppin State, pitched a complete game and held NCCU off the scoreboard for the final five innings to secure her ninth win of the season.
 
NCCU and CSU will complete the MEAC series with a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m.
 
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