NORFOLK, Va. – Loren Hudson, Cam Andersen, and Kenna Higa all homered on the day, but it was not enough as the Norfolk State softball team dropped a pair of games to Rider and UMass Lowell to open action at the Spartan-Pirate Clash on the NSU Softball Field on Friday afternoon.
Rider jumped out to an early lead in the first game with four runs in the top of the first inning. A Spartan error in the second inning allowed a pair of runs aboard putting the Broncs lead at six. With two outs in the second inning, Loren Hudson took a 1-0 pitch and hit the ball over the fence in left center, cutting the lead to five.
In the third, Rider went three up, three down before Cam Andersen took a 2-0 count down the left field line and over the outfield fence to cut the lead down even more at 6-2. After inducing a ground out, the Broncs pitcher threw a ball to Lily Potter two hit with such spin down the right field line that it spun to the fence in right field and earned Potter a triple. Potter would score on an RBI by Gabby Vaughan to cut the lead in half at the end of the inning 6-3.
Rider went on to score two runs in the fourth, and five runs in the fifth while holding the Spartans scoreless to take the first game of the day 13-3 in five innings.
NSU had a short break before returning to the field and taking on UMass Lowell. Both teams couldn't cross the plate in the first but the visitors from Massachusetts put up four runs, including a pair of doubles to take a 4-0 lead after two innings.
Neither team found much ground in the third and fourth inning with no runners left on in the third and both teams kept a runner on base in the fourth. The fifth inning saw the River Hawks add two runs on two hits to extend their lead to six.
In the bottom of the inning, Kenna Higa took the first pitch of the at bat and hit the ball over straight-away center field for her third home run of the year, as the Spartans looked to put a dent in the UMass Lowell lead. In the sixth, Morgan Johnson singles through the right side to open the Spartan half of the frame. Andersen would come in and pinch hit for Vaughan, and even though she swung on strike three, the catcher could not keep a glove on it and Andersen safely reached first base. Tuli Iosefa slammed a ball along the ground down the left field line scoring Johnson from third and pulled NSU within four.
But the River Hawks struck out Higa to end the inning. The Spartans went hitless in the seventh to drop the second game of the day, 6-2.
NSU (8-7) play host to a trio of games on Saturday, playing in two. The Spartans start off with a 10 a.m. contest against Bryant University before a closing out the day in a rematch against Rider at 2 p.m. The day also features a 12 noon game between the Bulldogs and Rider.
