NORFOLK, Va. – Tuli Iosefa hit a three-run home run in the bottom of seventh to tie the game with Hampton before Imani Moore hit a walk-off single in the eighth to help the Norfolk State softball team earn a doubleheader sweep of the Lady Pirates on Wednesday. In the second game, NSU shutout the visitors, 5-0, at the NSU Softball Field.
In game one, HU scored first in the fourth on an Emily Kepple sacrifice fly to center field. However, the lead did not last long as the Spartans took advantage of a fielding error and put runners on the corners with no outs. In one play, the Victoria Ruiz stole second while Alison Guckin stole home to tie the game at 1-1. Guckin ranks first in the MEAC in both stolen bases and stolen bases per game while ranking sixth nationally in stolen bases per game (0.86) and total stolen bases (18).
Gabby Vaughan would hit a single to right center bringing in Ruiz from third to take the lead after four complete.
A few throwing errors by NSU in the fifth coupled with timely hits by the Lady Pirates allowed HU to retake the lead with three runs, 4-2. Another run by the visitors in the top seventh put the Spartans down to final half of an inning.
Lauren Sheehan got things started with a one-out single through the left side on a 2-2 count. After Lily Potter flied out to right, Riley Gilbreath reached on a fielding error by the shortstop that put runners on first and second with two outs. That's when Iosefa took a full count to near dead-center field and over the fence to clear the bases and tie the score at 5-5. Kenna Higa followed up with a double to right before the Lady Pirates closed out the inning.
With one out and a runner on third in the top of the eighth, due to a sacrifice bunt and a runner placed on second for extra innings, Alexis Robinson came into pitch and got consecutive strikeouts, one swinging and one looking, to put NSU up to bat. Victoria Taylor was placed on second for the Spartans and Yrral Davis sacrificed bunted her to third. Moore then hit her walk-off single up the middle to give NSU the 6-5 game one win.
Game two did not feature as much excitement in later innings as game one, but the Spartans saw some sparks early on. Potter and Sheehan led off the bottom of the first with a hit batter and a walk. Iosefa reached first on fielders' choice, double play. Higa then walked and Vaughan hit a single up the middle to load the bases. Gilbreath would then single to left that scored both Higa and Iosefa. A fielding error by the Lady Pirates in left field allowed Vaughan to score and give NSU a 3-0 lead after just one inning.
The Spartans added on a pair of runs in the fourth of a pair of singles, a walk and sacrifice fly to extend their lead to 5-0. They would go on to keep HU off the scoreboard for their second shutout win of the season. Brierra Tyler pitched five scoreless innings to get the win, striking out four. Robinson closed out the victory with two scoreless frames.
NSU (13-12) will travel this weekend to open MEAC play with a doubleheader at Howard on Friday and then a single game on Saturday against the Bison. Howard enters the game 8-14 overall.
