Game 1 Box | Game 2 Box

NORFOLK, Va. – Looking to improve its offensive punch after a subpar showing last year, the Norfolk State softball team did just that with an 11-5, 20-6 sweep of North Carolina Central Saturday afternoon in the Spartans' season opener.

On a sunny, windy day at the NSU Softball Field, junior Danielle Wright helped the Spartans break open a tight game with a fourth-inning grand slam in Game 1 that was part of a seven-run inning in the 11-5 win. NSU then tallied eight runs in the first inning of Game 2 on the way to one of the biggest scoring outputs in Division I history.

NC Central fell to 3-5 with the losses, while NSU won its first two games of the season in Heidi Cavallo's head coaching debut. The Spartans hit a combined 30-of-66 in the two games, a .455 team batting average.

Hitting leadoff in both games, Wright batted 3-for-4 with three runs and five RBI in the first game. She then drove in another five runs and scored two as part of a 2-for-5 effort in the second game, including a three-run homer in her second at bat of the eight-run first inning.

Senior Jeanette Sauceda hit a perfect 4-for-4 in the first game with three RBI, while junior Candice Vasquez and freshman Nikki Jones added a pair of hits. Jones tallied both of her hits in the fourth inning.

Jones scored four runs in the second game as NSU scored eight, five, four and three runs in the first four innings before the eight-run, five-inning rule took effect. Freshman Kathy Cortez went 3-for-3 with three runs and three RBI.

Freshman Alexa Fleming batted 2-for-4 and also scored three runs with three RBI, while Sauceda scored three times and had two hits. Vasquez and freshman Melina Valles each knocked in two runs in Game 2.

Senior Alyssa Velazquez picked up the win in the first game, giving up two earned runs and seven hits in four-plus innings with seven strikeouts. Freshman Jamie Schulle gave up all six earned runs in the second game but earned the victory after giving up seven hits in five innings with five strikeouts.

The Eagles held a 2-1 after the first inning in Game 1, a score that did not change until NSU's bats came alive in the fourth inning. Freshman Morgan Boyd's bunt single loaded the bases after Jones singled and Valles reached on an error. Wright then hit a bomb over the right-center field wall to put NSU in the lead for good.

Sauceda and Jones added RBI singles as NSU sent 13 batters to the plate in the inning.

Central, though, cut the deficit to 8-5 in the top of the fifth after a trio of errors on the Spartans put three of the first four hitters on base. NSU added an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth and then two more in the sixth inning for the final scoring margin.

Wright reached base in the top of the first in Game 2 on the first of seven errors by the Eagles in the game. Cortez singled to center field with the bases loaded. The third wild pitch of the inning by NC Central starter Shamika Chavis-Hodge scored two more runs, and after a fielder's choice by Fleming tallied the fifth run of the inning, Wright jacked a three-run home run to left field two batters later to cap the scoring.

Chavis-Hodge lasted just 0.2 innings and gave up all eight runs in the first inning. Every single run NSU scored in that opening frame was unearned.

Vasquez capped a five-run second inning with a two-run single into right field after NSU scored three times earlier in the inning. Fleming hit an RBI double in the bottom of the third, and Wright followed with a two-run single two batter later as NSU scored four runs in the frame.

Valles doubled to left-center with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning to cap the scoring for the Spartans on the day.

In three of the four innings in Game 2, NSU's first runner to reach base did so on the heels of an NC Central error. Only four of the 20 runs scored by the Spartans was earned.

NSU will attempt to keep the momentum going Sunday with a doubleheader against Coppin State. First pitch is slated for 2 p.m.