Box Score PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – Norfolk State pounded out a season-high 16 hits and also benefitted from seven UMES errors to earn a 14-4 victory on Sunday afternoon in a softball matchup at Hawks Field.
 
NSU won in six innings after scoring five runs in the sixth to force the eight-run rule and give the Spartans their most runs in a game this year. The two MEAC Northern Division rivals only played one contest this weekend after weather conditions forced a postponement of Saturday's doubleheader. Those games will be made up at a later date.
 
Junior Kayla McNair batted 4-for-5 with three runs scored, while senior Megan Dunning hit 3-for-5 with three RBI to lead the hit attack for the Spartans. Included in those 16 hits were seven doubles, including two each by Dunning and junior Devon Bitler.
 
The win improved NSU's MEAC record to 5-2 and its overall mark to 10-14. The Spartans were playing their first game in eight days.
 
On a cold and windy afternoon, the Spartans scored a run in the second on a passed ball and then three in the third for a 4-0 lead. Dunning doubled in one run in the inning, and another scored on junior Hannah Haustein's sac fly to right.
 
In the fourth, Bitler doubled to start a three-run inning. She scored on an error on a hit by senior Whitney Williams, and freshman Stephanie Davenport singled in another run. Williams later scored on UMES' second error of the frame for a 7-0 lead.
 
The Hawks (7-18, 2-5 MEAC) tacked on a run in the bottom of the fourth before the Spartans added two unearned runs in the fifth for a 9-1 edge. UMES kept the game going with three runs in the bottom of the inning, with Vanessa Gomez' two-run triple highlighting the frame.
 
The Spartans, though, added another five runs in the sixth for the final scoring. Bitler hit a two-run double with one out, and sophomore Seana Moriarty followed with an RBI double to center field. McNair and Dunning each had RBI singles to close out the inning.
 
Bitler (2-for-5, two runs, two RBI) and Moriarty (2-for-4, two runs, one RBI) set the tone at the top of the lineup, while Williams scored three runs.
 
Sophomore Marissa Marrero (6-7) got the win for NSU, allowing five hits in six innings while giving up all four earned runs.
 
NSU will travel to Baltimore to play a doubleheader at Towson on Tuesday at 2 p.m.