SALISBURY, Md. – Junior Hunter Halford threw a one-hitter in game 1, and senior Julianne Gillo drove in the winning run in the eighth inning in game 2 as the Norfolk State softball team defeated Maryland Eastern Shore twice on Saturday afternoon at the Henry S. Parker Athletic Complex.
 
The Spartans swept the three-game MEAC series from the Hawks, improving to 5-4 in the league as well as 15-20 overall. NSU limited MDES to just six hits and one run on the day.
 
Senior Seana Moriarty hit a pair of home runs in the first game, while Halford and junior Kylee Lopez also went deep as part of a nine-hit barrage. Halford (4-8), meanwhile, struck out a career-high 12 and allowed just one hit in seven innings of work. She tied the program record for strikeouts in a game, a mark accomplished six other times over the years.
 
The Spartans left 10 runners on base in the second game of the doubleheader, but freshman Kayla Porter kept the Hawks at bay after allowing just five hits in 7.1 innings of work. Maryland Eastern Shore fell to 3-23 overall, 0-9 in the MEAC.
 
In the first contest, the Spartans did not have a big inning, instead spreading the scoring among five different innings. Junior Shelby DesChamps, who hit 3-for-3 in the game with two runs scored, scored the first of those runs in the first inning. She singled, stole second and third, and scored when Halford fouled out to first.
 
Moriarty hit a solo homer in the second, and she and Lopez hit solo homers in the fourth for a 4-0 lead. DesChamps later singled in the fifth and came home on Halford's two-run shot over the left-center field fence.
 
NSU completed the scoring in the seventh on senior Jaylene Pryor's sac fly. Sara Whaley, meanwhile, broke up Halford's no-hitter with a double in the fifth with one out.
 
DesChamps finished with four stolen bases. Halford had three RBI, and Moriarty batted 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBI as well.
 
Porter (4-3) struck out two and walked one while allowing the one earned run in game 2. Halford got the last two outs in the eighth for her first save of the year.
 
DesChamps singled to lead off the game and later scored on Lopez' RBI double to right center. Samantha Casarez and Heidi Smith each had doubles in the fourth for the Eagles to tie the score at 1-1.
 
The Spartans went ahead for good in the eighth. Freshman Tuli Iosefa singled to lead off the inning, and then with two outs Gillo lined one into right center for the final margin. Halford entered in the bottom eighth with a runner on second and one out, getting a groundout and flyout to end the game.
 
Nasya Goodman (3-10) pitched all eight innings and gave up seven hits and two earned runs while walking six.
 
Iosefa had a pair of hits for the Spartans.
 
NSU will host Morgan State next weekend for a three-game MEAC series.