Spartan Softball Sweeps Winston-Salem State 8-7, 12-4

Sara Spanka hit her first career grand slam in game two against WSSU.

Game 1
Game 2

NORFOLK, Va. — The Norfolk State softball team swept a doubleheader from Winston-Salem State on Saturday afternoon at the NSU Softball Field. NSU (14-27) won the first game 8-7 in a school-record 11 innings and took the second game 12-4 in five innings.

The first game was tied 1-1 after the first seven innings, forcing the extra frames. Each team got a run in the eighth to keep the game going.

A grand slam by WSSU first baseman Artreya Jernigan in the top of the ninth opened the game up, but the Spartans responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to bring the score to 6-all.

Candice Vasquez(Montclair, Calif.) scored on a WSSU error and Gipsy Ramirez(LaVerne, Calif.) got in safely when Lady Ram pitcher Brittany Lane hit Jeanette Sauceda (Ontario, Calif.) with a pitch with the bases loaded. Danielle Wright(Safety Harbor, Fla.) then drove in two run with her double to left center field.

Both teams scored once in the 10th inning and the Spartans won in the bottom of the 11th when Brianeisha Eure(Virginia Beach, Va.) scored on a throwing error by third baseman Latoya Lynch.

Alyssa Velazquez(Aurora, Colo.) pitched a career-high 11 innings and gave up eight hits, seven runs (five earned) and struck out three with no walks for the win. Lane fell to 6-17 on the season after giving up six hits, eight runs (three earned) and striking out eight in 10 innings.

NSU jumped out to a fast 2-0 lead in the second game, but WSSU (8-27) posted four runs in the third to take a 4-2 lead. Down 4-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth, the Spartans exploded for eight runs. The offense was fueled by an RBI double by Sauceda and a grand slam by Sarah Spanka(Virginia Beach, Va.), the first of her career.

Eure led off the bottom of the fifth with a triple to left center field and scored the winning run on Jamie Raab's (Houston, Texas) double to center field.

Elizabeth Castaneda(Montclair, Calif.) pitched five innings and allowed six hits and four runs, one earned, for the win. Tiffany Burgess suffered the loss after tossing three innings and giving up eight hits and seven runs (six earned).

Eure and Wright each went a combined 4-for-7. Eure scored five times and drove in two runs, while Wright scored twice and had two RBI. Raab was 3-for-4 with three RBI and one run in the second game.

The teams conclude the series with the final game that starts at noon on Sunday. Seniors Eure, Raab and Meghan Ramsey(Virginia Beach, Va.) will be honored before the game.

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