BOWIE, Md. – If was a rough day for Bowie State softball on Sunday (4/8) afternoon, as the Bulldogs were handed a pair of losses to visiting Virginia State by scores of 12-1 and 15-2. The losses drop Bowie State's overall record to 8-15, 5-7 in CIAA play and 3-3 in the critical Northern Division.
The Bulldogs managed just five hits over the doubleheader compared to 22 for the Trojans. Of Bowie State's five hits, freshman
Morgana Johnson (Baltimore, Md.), junior
Morgan Powell (Upper Marlboro, Md.) and seniors
Lindsey Fenner,
Nicoleen Ochoa (Madison, Ohio) and
Tiffany Bearns (Lusby, Md.) were responsible for one each. Errors proved costly for Bowie State, committing 10 errors overall (five in each game). Fenner was the only Bulldog to get multiple bases on her hit which was a double in game one.
Virginia State (14-10, 10-0 CIAA, 4-0 North) put up six runs on just three hits on Bowie State in the top of the 1st inning of game one. The Trojans send eight batters to the plate with three of those reaching via an error.
Trailing 6-0 after half an inning, Bowie State scored its lone run in the bottom of the first by way of a wild pitch by VSU's Dominique Mulero. Senior
Ja'seph Smith (Bowie, Md.) reached base on a fielder's choice, stole second, advanced to third following a throwing error and scored on the wild pitch.
Virginia State's bats remained hot over the next two innings, scoring three in the 2nd inning and another two in the 3rd inning to give the Trojans an even more comfortable lead at 11-1. A Mulero single through the right side of Bowie State's defense scored Ayannah Bowmen to account for the final 12-1 margin in the opener.
The Trojans pounded out 11 hits in game one with Mulero pacing the team with four, one of which was a blast over the left field fence in the 3rd inning.
Game two began very similar to game one for Virginia State as the visitors scored three runs in the 1st inning and added a pair of runs in the top of the 2nd inning for a 5-0 advantage.
The Bulldogs cut the Trojans lead to 5-2 in their share of the 2nd inning. BSU's Smith reached on an error and stole second and third with one out. Freshman
Morgan White (Baltimore, Md.) reached on a walk and later scored on another Virginia State throwing error, which also scored Smith.
Unfortunately, Bowie State only mustered up three more hits for the remainder of the game two of the twinbill.
However, Virginia State kept crushing the ball, recording eight hits over the next three innings and scored three runs in the 3rd and 4th inning and tacked on another four runs in the top of the 5th inning to seal the 15-2 win.
