Box Score

NORFOLK, Va. – After scoring two runs in the bottom of the first, the Norfolk State softball team was no-hit over the last six innings in a 3-2 loss to Fairleigh Dickinson Sunday afternoon on the final day of the Spartan Invitational.

Senior Alyssa Velazquez pitched all seven innings and gave up three earned runs and six hits with four strikeouts. NSU fell to 2-6 on the season, while the Knights improved to 2-1. Velazquez saw her record drop to 1-1 on the young season.

Maire Shaughnessy pitched five innings for the win, giving up two runs on two hits. Kirsten Shreve pitched the last two innings and picked up her first save of the season for FDU.

Berkleigh Massey and Mikayla Fernandez each tallied two hits for the Knights, while Lauren Hamilton added two RBI. Junior Danielle Wright hit her third home run of the season for the Spartans.

NSU got rolling in the first inning when Wright launched a homer to left-center field on a full-count pitch to open the frame for the Spartans. Freshman Nikki Jones walked in the next at bat and then two outs later, freshman Melina Valles hit a full-count pitch through the middle of the infield to score Jones and make it 2-0 Spartans.

Unfortunately for NSU, the Knights allowed just three runners to reach base through the next six innings and did just enough at the plate for the win. FDU tied the score in the top of the second, as Massey singled to open the inning and Shaughnessy doubled to right-center to put runners in scoring position with no outs.

NSU got the next two outs, including a force out at home, but Hamilton doubled to the left field fence to score a pair of runs for Fairleigh Dickinson. Velazquez put the Knights down in order in the next three innings, but Massey hit a one out double into the left field corner to score Fernandez in the top of the sixth to give FDU the lead for good, 3-2.

In the team's last three games, NSU has lost by a total of four runs.

The Spartans will get a week's break before returning to the NSU Softball Field to host Delaware State in a doubleheader next Sunday at noon.