PETERSBURG, Va. – In the regular season finale, Bowie State University softball swept Virginia State by scores of 8-6 and 13-7 and end the regular season as Co-Champions of the CIAA Northern Division. The victory sets the Bulldogs record at 18-18 overall, 14-2 in league play and 9-1 in the Northern Division. The victory sets the Bulldogs record at 18-18 overall, 14-2 in league play and 9-1 in the Northern Division.
The losses put the Virginia State record at 12-20 overall, 5-8 in CIAA play and 3-4 in the North.
Bowie State got on the scoreboard first in the top of the 1st inning of game one when junior
Inaya Jones (Baltimore, Md.) stroked a single up the middle scoring leadoff hitter Ja'Seph Smith (Bowie, Md.) from third for the early 1-0 lead. Sophomore
Megan Visele (Great Mills, Md.) singled through the right side of the Virginia State defense, plating two for a 3-0 advantage.
Junior
Nicoleen Ochoa (Madison, Ohio) drilled a double to deep left center allowing Smith to score for the second time in the game. Junior
Jacqueline Pickering (Bowie, Md.) and Ochoa scored following back-to-back singles by Jones and Visele, increasing the Bulldogs lead to 6-0 after two innings of play.
Virginia State trimmed the Bowie State lead to 6-5 in the bottom of the 4th inning on just two hits.
Vanessa Ruby hit a single to center in the bottom of the 5th inning scoring Brickhouse from third to knot the game at 6-all.
Smith scored her third run of game one on a bad throw to first to shift the advantage back over to Bowie State in the top of the 7th. Bowie State's Pickering scored on an error by Virginia State's shortstop to give the Bulldogs a little breathing room at 8-6 and was the final margin.
Junior
Stefanie Ray (Damascus, Md.) moved from third to pitcher in the 6th inning to earn the win in relief, improving her pitching record to 14-8.
It was all Bowie State in game two as the Bulldogs scored three in the bottom of the 1st inning and plated another four runs in the top of the 2nd inning for a 7-0 advantage.
The Bulldogs pushed two more across the dish in the top of the 4th inning, padding the Bowie State lead at 9-0.
The Bulldogs put the final nail in the coffin in the top of the 5th inning when Smith beat the throw home for a 10-1 cushion.
That nine-run cushion was narrowed to 10-4 in the bottom of the 5th inning as the Trojans pounded out four hits to extend the game to the 6th inning.
Bowie State's Smith hit a leadoff home run in the top of the 7th inning to push the Bulldogs lead to 12-5. Ochoa followed with a double and scored after a Jones double for a 13-5 advantage.
Virginia State was pretty much given two runs in the bottom of the 7th inning, courtesy of three consecutive Bowie State errors. Fortunately, Bowie State was able to shake off those errors to claim the 13-7 win in game two.
Vanessa Ruby was the leading hitter for Virginia State tallying four hits followed by Janay Joseph with three hits over the twinbill.
Visele paced Bowie State with six hits in 10 at bats while Bearns ranked second on the team in hits over the two games with four. Jones of the Bulldogs led both teams with five RBI.
The Bulldogs will enter next week's (May 4-6) CIAA Tournament as the #2 Seed in the North and will face Johnson C. Smith at 12 noon at the Petersburg Sports Complex.
