CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Bowie State softball team got their conference portion of its schedule off to a great start over the weekend, recording a 5-1 record at the CIAA Round-Up hosted by Johnson C. Smith.
 
The Bulldogs began the weekend with a 1-0 victory over Fayetteville State on Friday (3/17) afternoon but were defeated 14-2 by St. Augustine's later that afternoon. Juniors Nicoleen Ochoa (Madison, Ohio) and Lindsey Fenner (Aberdeen, Md.) led Bowie State with a pair of hits each in the opening game. Ochoa, junior Stefanie Ray (Damascus, Md.) and sophomore Tiffany Bearns (Lusby, Md.) accounted one hit apiece in the nightcap versus St. Augustine's.
 
Saturday's games were washed out but In Saturday's (3/19) three-game set, Bowie State captured wins against Shaw (3-0), Livingstone (21-4) and Winston-Salem State (6-5). Junior Jacqueline Pickering (Bowie, Md.) paced the Bulldogs against Shaw with a pair of hits. Pickering and Bearns led the attack versus Livingstone, pounding out three hits each while junior Ja'Seph Smith (Bowie, Md.), along with Ochoa and sophomores Inaya Jones (Baltimore, Md.) and Megan Visele (Great Mills, Md.) added two hits each. In Sunday's final game against Winston-Salem State, Bowie State was paced by Pickering and Ochoa with two hits each.
 
The Bulldogs' final game of the Round-Up was against host Johnson C. Smith on Sunday (3/20), edging the Golden Bulls 4-3. Bowie State led 2-0 after three innings of action before JCSU's Golden Bulls were able to push one across the dish in the top of the 4th inning.
 
Bowie State would get the run back in the bottom half of the fourth to make it 3-1, but the Golden Bulls picked up a run in the fifth to cut the BSU lead to 3-2.
 
After a scoreless sixth inning, JCSU was able to tie the game in the seventh. Johnson C. Smith's Alexis D'Louhy was able to reach on a BSU error and quickly found herself on second after a steal and would advance to third when Randaisha Daniels singled to left field. D'Louhy would then score on a passed ball.
 
BSU ended the game quickly. After a leadoff bunt single by Smith, Pickering stepped to the plate and stroked a double to left center for the game-winner, scoring Smith from first.
 
Ochoa and Pickering tallied nine hits apiece over six games while Bearns and Visele were responsible for seven and six hits respectively.
 
Bowie State (8-8) will pause for Spring Break before returning to action on Saturday (3/25) hosting California University of Pennsylvania in a non-conference twinbill beginning at 1 p.m.