Hot-Hitting Lady Falcons Crank Out Eight Hits In Six Innings

RALEIGH, NC (April 11) – On Tuesday, Korey Hill (Sr./Virginia Beach, VA) drove in two runs and Marley Parker (Jr./Langley, British Columbia) hurled a five-hitter as Saint Augustine's University upended Virginia Union University 8-1 at Lions Park for its eighth consecutive softball victory.

The Lady Falcons, who lead the Southern Division with a 6-0 mark, improved to 9-1 in the CIAA and 14-9 overall. The Lady Panthers dropped to 3-8 in the CIAA and 6-11 overall. The contest was originally scheduled March 18 as part of the CIAA Round-Up but was moved to Tuesday due to wet field conditions caused by inclement weather.

The Lady Falcons, ranked fourth nationally in Division II in batting average, tallied eight hits in six innings. Hill paced the Lady Falcons with two RBIs and one run scored on 2-for-3 hitting.

Makayla August (Fr./Palm Springs, CA) was 2-for-2 with a double, triple and three runs scored and Haili Pettifer (Jr./Langley, British Columbia) scored two runs. Jasmine Rios (Jr./Greensboro, NC) and Akera McPhaul (Jr./Greensboro, NC) also tripled for the Lady Falcons, who finished with three for the contest. The Lady Falcons are the national Division II leaders in triples per game (1.09) and rank fourth in Division II in scoring (8.27) and slugging percentage (.597). Rios and August rank one and two in the nation, respectively, in triples per game.

Parker allowed five hits in seven innings for the pitching win. She recorded seven strikeouts, two walks and one earned run.

The Lady Panthers scored first in the second inning on Breana Miller's RBI single. The lead quickly vanished in the bottom half of the inning as an infield error scored Pettifer, August and Haley Sessoms (Fr./Kenansville, NC) for a 3-1 Lady Falcons lead.

In the fourth inning, the Lady Falcons expanded their lead to 6-1 when Hill scored Pettifer and August on a two-run single and McPhaul scored Hill on an RBI triple. They scored the last two runs in the fifth when Parker scored Rios on a sacrifice fly and Sessoms scored August on an RBI double.

The Lady Falcons hit the road next weekend for the final stretch of the regular season. They visit Winston-Salem State University on Saturday, April 22 and Fayetteville State University on Sunday, April 23 in key CIAA doubleheaders which will determine the Southern Division champions. The doubleheader against Winston-Salem State begins at 12 p.m. and the twinbill against Fayetteville State starts at 2 p.m.