CARY, N.C. – The Spartans let a lead slip away in the first game, but the Norfolk State softball team came back to take game 2 over North Carolina Central on Tuesday afternoon in a non-conference doubleheader at Thomas Brooks Park.
 
The Eagles scored six runs over the final two innings to win the first contest in walk-off fashion, 8-7. The Spartans had 11 hits in the second contest and a pair of four-run innings in a 10-3 victory.
 
Norfolk State (6-8) also had nine hits in the first game, a contest it led by five runs before the Eagles stormed back thanks in part to four Spartan errors during those last two innings.
 
But NSU held N.C. Central (6-11) to just five hits in the second contest.
 
The first of the two four-run innings in the game 2 came in the fourth to break a scoreless tie. Senior Kylee Lopez and sophomore Tuli Iosefa each singled to lead off the inning, and freshman Gabby Vaughan doubled home the first run. Two bases loaded walks made it 3-0, and a passed ball on strike three scored the last run of the inning.
 
Senior Hunter Halford's RBI single in the fifth scored Iosefa, and Lopez hit an RBI double in the sixth. That put the Spartans ahead 6-3 after the Eagles had scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth, including a two-run homer from Caroline Campbell.
 
But in the seventh, NSU plated four more runs to break the game open. Halford singled and later scored on a fielder's choice. Freshman Makenna Heimann's bunt single scored another run, and two more came home on Lopez' RBI single.
 
Lopez hit 3-for-5 with three RBI, and freshman Alison Guckin also had a pair of RBI. Iosefa (2-for-5) and Halford (2-for-3) each scored two runs in addition to a pair of hits.
 
Senior Shannon Buffington (2-1) got the win after allowing four hits and three earned runs in 4.2 innings of work.
 
NSU was on the way to the win in game 1, leading 7-2 after batting in the sixth. The Eagles, however, scored four runs in the sixth and two in the seventh to come away with the win.
 
The Spartans led 3-1 after three innings, getting three RBI hits in the top of the third. Heimann and Iosefa smacked RBI singles following a walk to Guckin and an infield single off the bat of junior Shelby DesChamps. Vaughan followed with an RBI double for the two-run advantage.
 
Heimann followed with a two-run double in the fourth, plating both DesChamps and Guckin. Halford hit an RBI single in the fifth, and Vaughan's sac fly in the sixth gave NSU a comfortable 7-2 margin.
 
But in the bottom of the inning, things fell apart. NSU extended the inning with two outs on an error, and the second error of the frame allowed a second run to score following an infield single. Aleyah Evans followed with a two-run homer to make it 7-6.
 
Back-to-back hits by the Eagles in the seventh tied the score, and two more errors on the Spartans loaded the bases. Dalika Wallace's RBI infield single, one of her four hits in the game, brought the contest to a close.
 
Heimann finished 2-for-4 with three RBI, and Vaughan drove in a pair of runs as well. DesChamps batted 2-for-4 in the leadoff spot, and she and Guckin each scored two runs.
 
In a complete game effort, Halford (2-5) was tagged for nine hits and all eight runs, just three earned, with seven strikeouts.
 
The Spartans return home to host six teams in conjunction with Hampton as part of the Spartan/Pirate Classic on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. NSU will open the tournament at the NSU Softball Field against Drexel on Friday at 9 a.m.