Box Score WASHINGTON, D.C. – The North Carolina Central University softball team notched its second 11-3 triumph over host Howard University in two days to win the rubber game of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference series on Saturday at the National Youth Academy.
 
NCCU improved to 12-23 on the season while remaining in a tie for first place in the conference standings after securing its fourth consecutive MEAC series win. The Eagles improved their league ledger to 10-1, which is tied for first with Morgan State. The Bison dipped to 11-20 on the year and 4-6 in league play.
 
The 10th conference win for the maroon and gray is tied for the most league wins for NCCU since the Eagles joined the MEAC at the start of the 2011-12 season (NCCU finished 10-5 in 2019).
 
The corner infielders had a couple of hot bats for the Eagles as freshman first baseman Takia Nichols and junior third baseman Maegan Garrison both went deep and tallied three RBI apiece.
 
Nichols reached base in all four of her plate appearances: collecting two singles, one home run and one walk. Nichols singled in the second to extended her hit streak to seven games, the longest active streak for NCCU, and then drove in a run in each of her next three trips into the batter's box.
 
The Eagles were trailing 2-1 before scoring nine runs in the fourth innings. The decisive frame was highlighted by Garrison, who singled and scored to jumpstart the big inning and then she capped the stanza with a three-run homer.
 
Garrison's seventh homer moved her into a tie for the league lead in home runs with junior teammate Ivory Jones. Nichols hit her sixth homer of her rookie season to trail Garrison and Jones by just one. Garrison and Nichols both scored twice on the day.
 
NCCU doubled up Howard, 8-4, in the hit column with Nichols leading all players with three base knocks.
 
Junior Jaylah Barr singled twice and drove in two runs as she has reached base safely in 15 consecutive games, NCCU's best active streak. The Eagles have three total players that maintain current double-digit reached base streaks with Nichols extending hers to 14 games and freshman Makiya Graves reaching safely for a dozen straight games after she drew a couple of walks and was hit by a pitch on Saturday.
 
Graves and sophomore Jay'lyn Edwards each chipped in an RBI during NCCU's nine-run outburst in the fourth inning.
 
Sophomore Jaden Davis (7-10) remains undefeated in her league starts as she hurled a complete-game victory. Davis, who improved to 6-1 with a 1.55 ERA against conference competition, only allowed four hits over her six innings of work. Her only league blemish was in relief against Howard a day earlier.
 
NC Central will next play a single game at Elon University on Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m.
 
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