NORFOLK, Va. – It was a tale of two wins for the Norfolk State softball team on Friday afternoon at the NSU Softball Field. The Spartans limited Fairleigh Dickinson to just three hits in a 2-1 win in the first game, and they overcame some tense moments in the second for a 13-6 victory.
 
Freshman pitcher Alexis Robinson limited the Knights in the first game while pitching all seven innings during the first day of the Hampton Classic. The Spartans led 7-0 after four innings in the second game, but FDU scored six runs in the fifth to cut the deficit to one. NSU got out of a bases loaded jam in the inning, then went on to score six more runs for a comfortable lead in the end.
 
Both teams had 10 hits in the second game. The Spartans knocked around three Fairleigh Dickinson pitchers to drop the Knights to 2-5 on the season.
 
NSU improved to 4-6 overall to start the three-day tournament run by Hampton. The Spartans will host games on Saturday and Sunday as well.
 
They committed five errors in the first game, including three on one play and another in the following inning that directly led to FDU's only run of the game. In the third, the Knights got a runner to third before an infield error on the Spartans on a play at the plate made it 1-0.
 
After four hits through five innings, NSU was finally able to break through in the sixth. Freshman Imani Moore hit an infield single before junior Jazzmaine Hammond lofted one to center that carried over the fence for a 2-1 lead.
 
Robinson (1-1) worked around a single in the seventh to earn the complete-game win. She gave up three hits and one unearned run for her first collegiate victory.
 
Abby England (1-2) suffered the loss for FDU despite striking out eight in six innings of work.
 
Hammond scored two runs and drove in a pair in the second game. Moore also scored three runs to once again spark the Spartan offense.
 
NSU did not waste time getting some runs across the plate. Moore singled with two outs in the first, Hammond got hit by a pitch, and sophomore Denisha Megginson lined one past the shortstop for the first run of the game. Sophomore Gabby Vaughan followed with a shot into left to score the second run of the inning.
 
In the second inning, three straight batters reached for NSU after they got plunked by the pitch. A bases-loaded walk made it 3-0, and Hammond hit one deep to right center for a sac fly and a four-run edge.
 
Sophomore Alison Guckin and Moore reached base to start the fourth, and Guckin scored when the throw down to third on a stolen base attempt went into left field. Hammond followed with a line drive single into left to score Moore, and she later came home on a passed ball for a 7-0 edge.
 
But the Knights got some runs back in the fifth when Hailey Ramberg launched a three-run shot over the fence in left-center as part of a six-run inning. Fairleigh Dickinson sent 12 batters to the plate and had the bases loaded before sophomore Brooke Bond came in to get the final out of the inning.
 
But any tension in the game quickly went away in the bottom of the frame. The Spartans scored four runs in the inning to get back to a five-run cushion. With the bases loaded and one out, two runs scored when the FDU catcher could not handle a throw to home. Another run scored on a wild pitch, and Megginson drove in the last run of the inning with a single into left.
 
The Spartans added two more runs in the sixth when Vaughan singled to lead off the inning and scored on Bond's two-run shot down the left field line.
 
Bond allowed one hit and struck out two in 2.1 innings for the save. Junior Skylar Swain ran her record to 2-2 after pitching four innings in total. Vaughan had three hits in the game.
 
Norfolk State will play Morehead State at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Marshall immediately afterwards.