NORFOLK, Va. -- The Norfolk State University softball team won both games in its doubleheader against the Bulldogs of South Carolina State at NSU Softball Field in Norfolk, Va. NSU won game one 8-0 and game two 14-5, both in five innings.
The Spartans scored in every inning except the second putting eight runs up on the Bulldogs en route to an 8-0 five-inning victory.
It all began as
Gabby Vaughan hit a sac fly to left field to score
Alison Guckin in the first. A
Kenna Higa home run put NSU up 2-0 in the bottom of the third.
Three runs scored in both the fourth and the fifth innings putting enough distance between Norfolk State and South Carolina State that NSU won by the run-rule.
Lauren Sheehan,
Yrral Davis, and Guckin all crossed home plate in the fourth on back-to-back singles and another Vaughan sacrifice fly ball, this one to right field.
In the fifth inning, Davis hit a double to right field that drove in
Lily Potter and
TC Watson to go up 7-0. The final run of the game was scored by Sheehan who came home on a Guckin single through the right side.
Game two started off a little differently as South Carolina State took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and held Norfolk State off the board until the bottom of the second inning.
The Spartans responded big in the bottom of the second inning scoring seven runs to lead 7-2 heading into the third. The first three runs scored during three different at-bats as
Emory Shorts,
Victoria Taylor, and
Lauren Sheehan all crossed the plate. The final four runs came in on a pair of back-to-back doubles hit by
Rylie Gilbreath and
Kenna Higa who drove in
Victoria Ruiz,
Alison Guckin, Gilbreath, and
Gabby Vaughan.
NSU increased its lead to seven runs, 9-2, in the bottom of the third as Ruiz and Guckin came home during Gilbreath's at-bat. SCSU pulled back within four runs, 9-5, after posting three runs in the fourth inning, however, the Spartans scored five in the bottom half of the inning to go ahead by nine runs, 14-5 for the final score.
A Guckin double cleared the bases of Shorts, Sheehan, and Ruiz. Gilbreath came up to bat and hit a triple to right field that scored Guckin, while the final run was driven in by Vaughan who hit a sac fly to right that scored Gilbreath.
Norfolk State and South Carolina State wrap up the series on Saturday, April 8, at 10 AM at the NSU Softball Field.
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