Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NORFOLK, Va. – After being held to one hit in a shutout loss in game 1, the Norfolk State softball team found some offense in the nightcap as the Spartans salvaged a doubleheader split against UMES on Friday afternoon at the NSU Softball Field.
 
Hawk starter Adrienne Guerra gave up just that one hit and struck out 13 in seven innings to lead UMES to a 2-0 win in the first game. The Spartans hit three home runs in the first inning of the second game on the way to a 13-1, five-inning victory in a MEAC Northern Division matchup.
 
Both Spartan pitchers fared well, including senior Liz Riley, who struck out a career-high 10 in the first game to top her previous career best of seven set earlier this season. Riley (1-8), though, allowed a pair of runs, just one earned, in the seventh inning to suffer the loss.
 
Freshman Marissa Marrero (4-9) got the run support in game 2 and made it stand, allowing just two hits and one unearned run in five innings of work.
 
The Spartans improved to 5-17 overall and 4-1 in the MEAC, while UMES ran its record to 4-21, 2-6 in conference play.
 
After being slowed in the first game, the Spartans wasted little time getting things going in the second contest. Senior center fielder Alina Moriarty homered to left center with one out, and two batters later junior third baseman Whitney Williams blasted one to the base of the scoreboard to make it 2-0.
 
After back-to-back walks, senior catcher Sommer Di Fulgo lofted one to left that carried over the fence for a 5-0 Spartan advantage.
 
In the bottom of the third, the Spartans had runners on second and third when junior shortstop Hannah Haustein took a pitch up in the strike zone and deposited it into left center. An error on the Hawks in the next at bat allowed the second run of the inning to score.
 
Then in the fourth, the Spartans broke the game wide open by putting a six-spot on the board, all with two outs. With Williams at first after a fielder's choice, sophomore first baseman Kayla McNair singled through the vacated hole at short, and pinch hitter Megan Dunning walked to load the bases.
 
Di Fulgo singled back up the middle to plate the first run, and Haustein hit another bloop single down the left field line to bring home McNair. Freshman second baseman Seana Moriarty drove in a pair of runs with a single into right center, and sophomore left fielder Devon Bitler followed with a shot past the pitcher and into center for a 13-0 lead.
 
An error on the Spartans in the fifth prevented the shutout.
 
Di Fulgo drove in four runs and scored a pair while hitting 2-for-3. Haustein, Bitler and Seana Moriarty each drove in two runs, while Haustein, McNair and Alina Moriarty all had two hits apiece.
 
In game 1, Guerra (3-9) struck out the side in each of the first three innings. Williams hit a two-out single into left field in the fourth to spoil the no-hitter, but NSU left just two runners on base the entire game.
 
In the seventh inning, Ciara Schnyder opened the inning with a homer to left field, and Vanessa Gomez added an RBI single later in the inning for the only two runs of the game.
 
NSU and UMES will finish out the series Saturday at noon.