Delaware Box Score | St. Francis Box Score

NORFOLK, Va. – A big second inning and a dominant pitching performance sent the Norfolk State softball team to a pair of losses, 13-4 to Delaware and 7-0 to St. Francis (Pa.), in the first day of the Spartan Classic at the NSU Softball Field.

Delaware got 11 runs across the plate in the top of the second, while Megan Layne allowed just four hits and no runs for St. Francis to drop NSU to 3-11 on the season. The Blue Hens improved to 4-9, and St. Francis saw its record go to 4-15.

Freshman Kathy Cortez had a pair of hits for the Spartans in each game, and senior Jeanette Sauceda added three hits and two RBI. NSU managed nine hits in the first game, but got just one runner into scoring position in the loss to the Red Flash.

Amanda Stacevicz gave up four earned runs on nine hits in five innings to pick up the win for the Blue Hens. Junior Casey Pomeroy gave up nine runs in 4.1 innings as she suffered her third loss of the season. Layne earned her fourth win of the year for St. Francis, while senior Alyssa Velazquez allowed seven runs, just two earned, on 11 hits in six innings for the Spartans.

Aided by four Spartan errors, Delaware opened up a big lead over NSU in the top of the second. Gina Knutson singled to open the frame and immediately advanced to second on a fielder error by the Spartans. Rachel Jones doubled her home. After a bases loaded walk scored another run, Jenny Richards hit a two-run single to left field to make it 4-0 early on.

A wild pitch scored another, and then Stacevicz scored two more with a single to center field. After another fielding error – the fourth of the inning for the Spartans – brought home one more run, Bertie Lake lined a home run to left field to score the last three runs of the inning.

After the Blue Hens added two more runs in the fourth, NSU's bats came alive in the bottom of the fifth inning. Freshman shortstop Morgan Boyd hit a bunt single with two outs and then scored when junior center fielder Danielle Wright and Cortez hit back-to-back singles. Pomeroy singled back up the middle to bring Wright home and then Sauceda doubled into the right-center field gap to plate Cortez and Pomeroy.

Freshman Melina Valles singled to left field to send Sauceda to third, but Stacevicz finally got out of the inning one batter later on a groundout to short.

The Red Flash completely shut down NSU a few hours later and scored a pair of runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings to pull away from the Spartans.

Katie McMellen doubled to center field to plate the second run of the fourth inning to give St. Francis a 3-0 lead. Both of the first two runs scored as a result of Spartan errors. NSU committed five miscues on the day.

McMellen hit an RBI single in the sixth – her third hit of the game – and came home on a single by Karlie Miller. St. Francis added an RBI double and RBI single in the seventh inning for the final scoring margin.

The second day of the tournament will begin Sunday at 9 a.m. when NSU meets Marist. The Spartans will play UMES Sunday at 5 p.m. to cap the tournament.