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Box Score 2 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Saint Augustine's University regained the Southern Division lead after upending Winston-Salem State University 7-2 in the second game of a key CIAA softball doubleheader at Twin City Park on Friday, April 24, 2015. The Lady Falcons lost the first game 2-1.
After the doubleheader split, the Lady Falcons are 7-1 and the Lady Rams are 6-2 in the Southern Division with two regular-season games remaining. The Lady Falcons can clinch the division title for the first time in recent memory with a victory over Fayetteville State University (14-10 overall) in a doubleheader on Sunday, April 26. Both games will be played at Seabrooks Park in Fayetteville, N.C., with starting times at 12 p.m. and approximately 2 p.m.
If the Lady Falcons (17-11 overall) split with Fayetteville State and Winston-Salem State sweeps Shaw University in a doubleheader on Sunday, both teams would be 8-2 in the division but the Lady Falcons hold the tiebreaker by virtue of margin of victory over the Lady Rams. Fayetteville State is currently 4-2 in the division with four regular-season games remaining at home – two against Shaw on Saturday and two against the Lady Falcons on Sunday.
The Lady Falcons put themselves in position to clinch the division crown by hitting with runners on base and taking advantage of four Lady Ram errors in the second game. Taylor Walters (Sr./Douglasville, GA) scored on an error and Korey Hill (So./Virginia Beach, VA) scored Daja White (Jr./Leland, NC) on a single for a 2-0 Lady Falcons' lead in the third inning. The Lady Falcons pushed their lead to 5-0 in the fourth inning. Marley Parker (Fr./Langley, British Columbia) scored Haili Pettifer (Fr./Langley, British Columbia) on an RBI groundout and Hannah Stutts (Sr./Statesville, NC) scored Akera McPhaul (Fr./Greensboro, NC) on a single to deep leftfield. Jasmine Rios (Fr./Greensboro, NC) scored Walters on a double to right field. The Lady Rams (18-20 overall) cut the deficit to 5-2 in the fifth inning with the help of three Lady Falcon errors. The Lady Falcons committed five errors in the contest.
The Lady Falcons padded their lead in the seventh inning. Daja White scored Rios on a single, and Hill scored on an error for the final score. Stutts gained the pitching win after scattering five hits in five innings. Meranda Zanni (Fr./Phoenix, OR) pitched the final two innings to earn the save. Mercedes Hargett, the CIAA strikeout leader, took the loss after allowing six hits and five runs while striking out five in four innings. Rios went 2-for-4 with a double, one RBI and one run scored for the Lady Falcons, who had eight hits. Daja White and Hill each had one hit, one RBI and one run scored. The five-run victory avenged a close loss in the first game for the Lady Falcons. Daja White of the Lady Falcons scored on a passed ball to tie the score at 1-1 in the fourth inning, but Monet Daly scored on an error in the fifth inning to give the Lady Rams the win. Zanni took the loss after scattering seven hits and allowing only one earned run in six innings. She went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, and Pettifer went 3-for-3 for the Lady Falcons.
Chyna Riley was the winning pitcher for the Lady Rams after giving up six hits in seven innings. Melissa Carillo went 2-for-2 with one RBI for the Lady Rams.
