FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Led by a potent batting attack and the arm of Hannah Stutts (Sr./Statesville, NC), Saint Augustine's University defeated Fayetteville State University 4-2 in Game 2 to share the CIAA Southern Division softball crown on Sanders Field at Seabrook Park Monday, April 27, 2015. The division title is the first in recent memory for the Lady Falcons.
The Lady Falcons bounced back to win the second game after losing 2-1 in eight innings in the first game. The victory tied the Lady Falcons with Winston-Salem State University for first in the Southern Division at 8-2, but the Lady Falcons earned the division's top seed in the upcoming CIAA Softball Championship this week.
The Lady Falcons and Winston-Salem State split their regular-season doubleheader, but the Lady Falcons own the tiebreaker based on point differential in both contests. The Lady Rams won the first game 2-1 and the Lady Falcons took the second game 7-2.
The double-elimination tournament will be held Thursday, April 30, through Saturday, May 2, at Walnut Creek Softball Complex in Raleigh, N.C. Eight teams – four Northern Division and four Southern Division teams – will compete for the conference crown.
First baseman Taylor Walters says the division title will give the Lady Falcons momentum entering the league tournament.
"We are growing as a team," said Walters, one of three Lady Falcon seniors. "We are working hard together to try and win a [CIAA] championship."
With a division title on the line, the Lady Falcons pounded out 13 hits in the second game Monday. They led 3-1 after three innings which was more than enough run support for Stutts, who fired a three-hitter in seven complete innings for the win. She improved to 7-4 as a pitcher this season.
Stutts also produced at the plate by batting 3-for-4 with an RBI. Marley Parker (Fr./Langley, British Columbia) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Jasmine Rios (Fr./Greensboro, NC) went 2-for-4 with one run scored. Danyelle Noland (Fr./Nashville, NC) had an RBI and one run scored.
The Lady Falcons (18-12 overall) took charge early with a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Korey Hill (So./Virginia Beach, VA) scored Rios on a groundout, and Meranda Zanni (So./Phoenix, OR) scored Noland on a single up the middle.
Zoe Howard scored Alex Wickham for the Lady Broncos (16-12 overall, 6-4 CIAA/Third Place) to trim the score to 2-1 in the bottom of the first inning. Stutts added another run for the Lady Falcons in the third inning when she singled home Parker with a shot to centerfield.
The score was 4-1 in the fifth inning when Noland scored Parker on a single. Ivor Gladden of the Lady Broncos bunted home Faith Benson in the seventh inning to slice the Lady Falcons' lead to 4-2, but Walters sealed the victory when the first baseman caught an infield pop-up by the next batter for the third out. Howard of the Lady Broncos was pinned with the loss after allowing eight hits in the final six innings.
The Lady Falcons forced extra innings before losing in the first game. The game was scoreless until the fifth inning when Gladden scored on an infield error for a 1-0 Lady Broncos' lead. The Lady Falcons tied the game in the seventh inning when Zanni scored on an infield error, but Brit Freeman of the Lady Broncos scored the game-winning run on an error in the eighth inning.
Howard was the winning pitcher for the Lady Broncos. She allowed three hits and recorded seven strikeouts with two walks in eight innings. Hill was the losing pitcher despite giving up only three hits in seven innings. The Lady Falcons limited the Lady Broncos to only six hits in two games.
