GAME ONE BOX SCORE

GAME TWO BOX SCORE

(BOWIE, Md.) Five Bowie State University seniors were sent off in fine fashion, sweeping Elizabeth City State University 5-2 and 12-5. The wins improve the Lady Bulldogs to 6-0 in the CIAA Eastern Division and 8-1 in the conference.

Elizabeth City State (4-11, 3-8 CIAA, 0-4 East) took an early 2-0 advantage in game one. Oasis Ellison recorded the Lady Vikings first hit of the afternoon in the top of the first. Heather Smith joined her on base after being hit by a pitch. A Samantha Craig double to right center, scored Ellison and Smith.

Bowie State responded with three runs in their share of the first inning and was never threatened again. All three Lady Bulldogs runs in the inning were courtesy of three Elizabeth City State errors.

BSU sophomore Shanae Smoot (Bel Alton, Md., LaPlata) began the fourth inning with a walk and later scored, increasing the Lady Bulldogs lead to 4-2. Two more Elizabeth City State errors assisted Bowie State to the two-run advantage.

Freshman Amanda Hedgepeth (Odenton, MD, Arundel) provided an insurance run in the fifth inning, crossing the plate after a double to left by senior Elizabeth Slater (Glen Burnie, MD, Lenoir-Rhyne Univ.). Hedgepeth ripped a one out double to left field and advanced to third on a throw over to first.

Senior Faline Brown (Inwood, WV, Musselman, Hagerstown C.C.) and Hedgepeth led Bowie State in the opener with a pair of hits each. Slater and freshman Justine Smith (Silver Spring, MD, James Herbert Blake) accounted for Bowie State's other two hits in game one.

Ellison and Craig were Elizabeth City State's top hitters in game one, accounting for two apiece. Smith and Kristen Cochran completed ECSU's six hit game one total, adding one hit each.

BSU's Brown picked up the win, sitting down eight via strikeout. Jennifer Gray suffered the loss, allowing six hits in six innings of work.

The ECSU Lady Vikings put three on the Lady Bulldogs Field scoreboard in the first inning of game two and opened a 4-0 advantage after 2 ½ innings. A Cochran double to right center scored Smith, Maria Bowser and Jennifer Gray in the first and Ellison hit a solo homerun to begin the third inning.

Bowie State junior Shalai Tabor (Waldorf, MD, Delaware State Univ.) made the biggest impact of the afternoon, recording a grand slam and a three-run homer in game two, giving her a CIAA best 11 on the year. Tabor belted her second grand slam of the season in the third, tying the game at 4-4. Smoot followed that, crushing her first home run of the year, shifting the advantage over to BSU's Lady Bulldogs at 5-4. Bowie State would add three more runs to extend the home team lead to 8-4.

With one out in the top of the fifth inning, Gray doubled to left field then stole third. Ellison grounded out to short, allowing Gray to score on the throw to first to round out Elizabeth City State's scoring in game two.

Bowie State's Lady Bulldogs put their final four runs in the scorebook in the bottom of the fifth inning. It all began with a Slater sacrifice fly, scoring freshman pinch runner Joanna Murray (Reisterstown, MD, Franklin). Murray was inserted into the game for freshman Kristen Lee (Germantown, MD, Northwest). Lee stroked a leadoff double to left but injured herself between first and second. Tabor went deep again, this time blasting a three-run shot to straight away center field, scoring Hedgepeth and junior Danielle McClay (Silver Spring, MD, Montgomery Blair).

Bowie State ended the final game of the day with a 9-8 hitting advantage. Tabor, Smoot, Lee and senior Kelley Alexander (Damascus, Md., Covenant Life, Montgomery College) paced the Lady Bulldogs with two hits each. Freshman Megan Alexander (Damascus, Md., Damascus) went the distance and notched her seventh pitching victory of the season, striking out six.

Gray and Bowser led the ECSU Lady Vikings with two hits and Cochran was responsible for three RBI. Cochran lasted only two and two thirds innings and gave up seven hits and seven runs in the loss.

Bowie State will host Saint Paul's College on Monday (April 5) in a CIAA Eastern Division doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.