NORFOLK, Va. – Sophomores Cam Andersen and Alexis Robinson limited Youngstown State to just one unearned run as the duo led the Norfolk State softball team to a pair of wins on Saturday afternoon at the NSU Softball Field.
 
Andersen pitched a two-hit shutout to begin the first of two doubleheaders this weekend against the Penguins. Following that 7-0 win, Robinson then gave up just the one unearned run in the Spartans' 5-1 victory in the nightcap.
 
NSU's offense finished with 13 hits, including four home runs, to support the duo in the circle. The Spartans improved to 4-4 on the year while the Penguins dropped the first two games of their season.
 
Andersen (3-0) limited YSU when she needed to, as the Penguins stranded seven runners in game 1. Senior Tuli Iosefa and junior Gabby Vaughan each drove in three runs. Vaughan hit 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored, and junior Brooke Bond also had a pair of hits in two at bats with two runs scored.
 
NSU broke through in the fourth, as Bond singled and Vaughan followed with a home run to left for a 2-0 lead. Junior Denisha Megginson hit a solo homer to center in the fifth, and the Spartans pulled away with four runs in the sixth.
 
Senior Jade Dixon and Bond singled to start the inning, and Vaughan dropped a hit into right center to score Dixon for a 4-0 lead. Iosefa then launched a 1-0 pitch over the left-center field fence for her second home run of the season.
 
The Spartans tagged YSU starter Sophie Howell for seven hits and seven earned runs.
 
Bond drove in three runs in game 2, and Dixon hit 2-for-3 with two runs scored to support Robinson (1-3). The right-hander struck out six and allowed five hits in a complete-game effort.
 
The Spartans led 3-0 before the Penguins got the first out in the bottom of the first. Junior Lily Potter reached base on a hit-by-pitch, and Dixon beat out a bunt single. Bond then blasted a three-run shot to left center.
 
NSU stranded the bases loaded in the first, and YSU starter Elle Buffenbarger got through the next few innings without any more damage. But in the fifth, Dixon doubled and later scored on a single from Megginson for a 4-0 advantage.
 
Thanks to two errors to start the inning, the Penguins were able to score their first run of the game in the top of the sixth. But NSU benefitted from an error in the bottom of the inning, and Dixon's sacrifice fly to shallow left made it 5-1.
 
Buffenbarger struck out eight while allowing all six hits and five runs, three earned. Grace Cea hit 3-for-3 for YSU in game 2 and drove in the team's only run.
 
The teams will play another doubleheader on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m.