BOWIE, Md. – Bowie State University softball split a non-conference doubleheader against visiting Goldey-Beacom College on Friday afternoon, capturing a 12-3 victory in game one but falling short in game two by a score of 5-3.
 
Bowie State (13-15) was led by juniors Jacqueline Pickering (Bowie, Md.) and Nicoleen Ochoa (Madison, Ohio) with four hits apiece. Fellow juniors Inaya Jones (Baltimore, Md.) and Ja'seph Smith (Bowie, Md.) added three hits each. Ochoa and Jones contributed a game-high four RBI each in the split.
 
Goldey-Beacom (9-21) was led by Rachel Davis (Bethel, Del.) with four hits in seven plate appearances and tallied three of the teams six RBI. Shelby Murphy (Laurel, Del.) along with Ryann Farley (Barnegat, N.J.) were responsible for three hits each over two games.
 
In game one Bowie State pushed one across in the bottom of the first inning, when Pickering scored from third. Goldey-Beacom erased the deficit with three runs in the top of the third inning for a 3-1 lead.  Murphy had an RBI single; Farley lined a run-scoring double and then scored when Davis' grounder was mishandled.
 
The Bulldogs took the lead for good, 4-3, in the last of the third.  Ochoa laced a two-run single and Jones followed with an RBI double.  Bowie State then scored eight times in the fifth with Ochoa smacking a two-run homer and Jacqueline Pickering ending it on a three-run double.
 
Goldey-Beacom's Dianna Gatto (Jefferson, NJ) had two hits in the opening game and Kylie Doyle (Tower City, Pa.) allowed 10 runs – eight earned -- and eight hits over 4 2/3 innings.
 
Ochoa ended game one with two hits and four RBI and Pickering also recorded two hits and three RBI in game one.  Junior Stefanie Ray (Damascus, Md.) permitted three runs, two earned and six hits over five innings to pick up her 10th win of the season.
 
In the nightcap, Goldey-Beacom scored one run in the top of the first inning but Bowie State's Jones blasted a three-run homerun in the bottom of the frame to give the Bulldogs a 3-1 advantage.
 
GBC's Lightning fought back with four runs in the second for a 5-3 lead.  Farley lined an RBI single and Davis laced a two-run single with a third run crossing home on an error.
 
The score remained 5-3 going to the bottom of the seventh, when the Bulldogs had runners at second and third with two out.  However, Goldey-Beacom pitcher Alyssa Giampolo (East Windsor, N.J.) shook off the pressure by getting BSU's Ochoa to strike out swinging for the final.
 
Giampolo struck out seven over seven innings, yielding three runs and eight hits.  Davis ended game two with three hits.
 
Ochoa (2-9) struck out three, but surrendered five runs, three earned and 13 hits over seven innings. Smith, Jones, Ochoa and Pickering were responsible for of Bowie State's hits in game two, with each accounting for two apiece.
 
The Bulldogs close out the non-conference portion of its schedule with a doubleheader at Millersville (Pa.) University on Tuesday (April 18). First pitch of the twinbill is set for 5 p.m.