Daja White Smacks 5 Home Runs In Three Softball Wins at CIAA Round-Up

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Daja White (Leland, N.C.) had one of the best offensive days by a Saint Augustine's University softball player in recent memory on Thursday, March 21, 2013.

The freshman sensation hit five home runs in three Lady Falcons' victories at the CIAA Softball Roundup at Arnette Park. White led the Lady Falcons to at 13-5 win over Lincoln (Pa.), a 14-1 win over Bowie State and a 15-5 victory over Virginia Union. The victories upped their overall mark to 10-5-1 overall and 6-2 in the CIAA. The Lady Falcons have won five consecutive games in two days.

“She played big,” St. Aug Head Coach Nikki Bumpass said. “Even though she is a freshman, Daja is very talented and coachable.”

White was 9-for-12 at the plate with 18 RBIs and eight runs scored in the three wins. She led the Lady Falcons with a .750 batting average for the day. She hit four three-run homers and one two-RBI homer.

The gifted newcomer leads the CIAA with eight home runs and 28 RBIs. She is second in the conference with a .538 batting average.

“I am shocked,” White said about her spectacular day. “I was never a home run hitter until college. I have been hitting under the ball lately, and today I stayed on top of the ball.”

Daja White had extra incentive to play well at the CIAA Round-Up.

“My mom was here,” White said. “She is my motivation.”

White was 4-for-4 for with two home runs, six RBIs and three runs scored against Lincoln (Pa.). She was 2-for-4 with two home runs, six RBIs and two runs scored against Bowie State and 3-for-4 with one home run, six RBIs and three runs scored against Virginia Union. Fittingly, she capped the win over Virginia Union with a three-run homer over the left centerfield fence to end the game due to the eight-run rule.

White hit five of the Lady Falcons' nine home runs on Thursday. Deja's sister Jo'Landa White (So./Leland, N.C.) added a home run in addition to Cierra Neal (So./New Hill, N.C.), Hannah Stutts (So./Statesville, N.C.), and LaKeisha Ford (Jr./Madison Heights, Va.).

Ford knocked in five RBIs for the Lady Falcons while Neal and Jo'Landa White each had three RBIs. Stutts and Jennifer Plair (Jr./Hampton, Va.) each produced two RBIs. Neal scored six runs and Ramadana Simmons (Sr./Atlanta, Ga.) added five runs for the Lady Falcons. The trio of Jo'Landa White, Michelle Shackelford (Jr./Bowie, Md.), Ford and Plair each contributed four runs scored. Stutts and Taylor Walters (So./Douglasville, Ga.) each scored three runs apiece.

Against Lincoln, the Lady Falcons scored four runs in the second inning for a 4-1 lead. Shackelford scored on an error and Plair hit and RBI groundout to score Neal. Daja White singled in Simmons and later scored on Ford's RBI double.

The Lady Lions pulled within 4-2 before the Lady Falcons blew the game open with nine runs in the sixth. Daja White started the rally with a two-run homer which also scored Plair. Jo'Landa White followed with a two-RBI homer to score Ford, and Walters scored on an error. Shackelford scored on a wild pitch, and Daja White added a three-run homer in the same inning which scored Plair and Simmons.

Against Bowie State, the Lady Falcons jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the second inning. Stutts drilled a solo homer and Ashia Nicholson (Fr./Asheboro, N.C.) hit an RBI double to score Walters. Plair's RBI single scored Neal and Daja White cracked a three-run homer which scored Plair and Nicholson. Ford scored on an error and Shackelford hit an RBI sacrifice fly which scored Jo'Landa White. Neal smacked a three-run homer to score Walters and Stutts. The Lady Falcons added three more runs in the fourth on Daja White's three-run homer to score Neal and Shackelford for the final margin.

Against Virginia Union, the Lady Falcons opened fast again, taking an 11-0 lead in the first inning. Ford hit a two-run homer which scored Daja White, and Stutts hit an RBI double which scored Jo'Landa White. Stutts later scored on an RBI single by Simmons, and Shackelford scored on an error. Daja White singled Simmons and Neal, and Ford hit a two-run single to score Daja White and Plair. Jo'Landa White's RBI single scored Ford and Walters' RBI fly out scored Jo'Landa White.

In the fourth, Daja White hit an RBI single to score Simmons for a 12-4 lead. The Lady Panthers scored in the fifth before Daja White finished them off in the sixth with her three-run homer which scored Simmons and Neal to stop the game.

Shackelford was the winning pitcher in the first game against Lincoln (Pa.). She struck out five and walked five in six innings. Stutts was the winning pitcher against Bowie State and Virginia Union. She gave up one hit and struck out two in three innings against Bowie State before reliever Kristen Long (Fr./Durham, N.C.) finished off the Lady Bulldogs with three strikeouts in two innings. Stutts pitched six innings against Virginia Union, scattering eight hits and fanning five with no walks.

“We played well,” Bumpass said. “If we can stay focused, the sky is the limit.”

The Lady Falcons are back in action in a non-league doubleheader on Monday, March 25, 2013, at Virginia-Lynchburg in Lynchburg, Va. The first game starts at 2 p.m.

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