Lady Falcons Visit Winston-Salem State And Fayetteville State In Key Divisional Doubleheaders
RALEIGH, NC (April 21) – This weekend, Saint Augustine's University will attempt to clinch the CIAA Southern Division softball title for the second time in three years when the Lady Falcons travel to Winston-Salem State University on Saturday, April 22 and Fayetteville State University on Sunday, April 23.
The Lady Falcons visit Winston-Salem State in a doubleheader at Twin City Park in Winston-Salem, N.C. with the first game starting at 12 p.m. They face Fayetteville State in a twinbill at Seabrook Park in Fayetteville, N.C. with the first pitch at 2 p.m.
The Lady Falcons (6-0 Southern Division,14-9 overall) lead Fayetteville State (4-1 Southern Division, 15-15 overall) by 1½ games with four division contests left in the regular season. Johnson C. Smith University (4-4 Southern Division, 13-14 overall) and Winston-Salem State (3-3 Southern Division, 10-28 overall) are tied for third but the Lady Falcons won both games against Johnson C. Smith this season.
Boosted by their offensive power, the Lady Falcons have emerged unscathed in six division games. In the national Division II rankings, they rank fourth in batting average, scoring and slugging percentage and first in triples per game. Individually, Makayla August (Fr./Palm Springs, CA) ranks third nationally in triples with eight and Jasmine Rios (Jr./Greensboro, NC) ranks sixth with seven.
Five Lady Falcons rank among the CIAA's top 10 in batting average led by Haley Sessoms (Fr./Kenansville, NC) and Akera McPhaul (Sr./Greensboro, NC). Sessoms ranks second with a .457 average and McPhaul is third with a .446 average. Meranda Zanni (Sr./Phoenix, OR) sports a 5-0 record as a pitcher.
The Lady Falcons will test their hitting prowess against Fayetteville State's Carley Green and Winston-Salem State's Mercedes Hargett. Green is 7-4 and ranks third in the CIAA in earned run average (2.73) and Hargett leads the CIAA in innings pitched (179.2).
