NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State softball team came away with just one hit in its first game, and the Spartans were held scoreless in the second as they fell twice in the Pirate Classic on Sunday at the NSU Softball Field.
Sacred Heart's Colleen Walsh allowed just one hit to NSU in an early morning win over the Spartans, 4-2. In the third and final game of the day, Youngstown State shut out the Spartans for the second straight afternoon in an 8-0, five-inning victory.
Norfolk State dropped to 2-6 on the season and has tallied just two runs over its last three games.
In the first game, Sacred Heart (1-2) scored first with a solo homer in the fourth. But the Spartans answered right back in the bottom of the frame. Senior
Shelby DesChamps and junior
Jazzmaine Hammond both got plunked by a pitch, and a flyout got them to second and third with two outs. Making a pinch-hit appearance, sophomore
Lily Potter dropped one in just past the diving shortstop behind the second base bag to score both.
Another solo homer from the Pioneers bounced off the top of the left field fence next to the foul pole and tied it up at 2-2 in the fifth. But Sacred Heart was not done, as an error prolonged the inning before Amy Petrovich launched a two-run shot to center for a 4-2 advantage.
Walsh (1-1) held the Spartans in check the rest of the way. She allowed just the one hit the entire morning while improving to 1-1 on the season. She struck out four.
YSU (6-3) no-hit the Spartans on Saturday, and despite facing a different pitcher, NSU again failed to cross home plate on Sunday. Maddi Lusk (2-1) pitched all five innings and gave up five hits with four strikeouts.
The Penguins did most of their damage in the first, scoring six runs in the inning. Lusk hit a two-run homer in the frame, and Avrey Schumacher added a two-run single. Nikki Saibene blasted a two-run shot in the fourth to make it 8-0 and allow the game to eventually finish in five innings via the eight-run rule.
The Spartans left nine runners on base and at least one in every inning, including the bases loaded in the second.
NSU will host games on its field for the second weekend of the Pirate Classic, beginning on Friday against Fairleigh Dickinson at 2 p.m.
