NORFOLK, Va. – A day after defeating Cleveland State in walk-off fashion, the Norfolk State softball team did it two more times on Saturday afternoon in a wild pair of games at the NSU Softball Field.
Junior Gabby Vaughan singled with no outs in the bottom of the seventh in game 1 to give the Spartans a 6-5 win. The second contest featured plenty of back-and-forth near the end, and Norfolk State finally put it to rest in the 10th on junior Brooke Bond's RBI single for a 12-11 victory.
CSU rallied to tie the score in the top of the seventh inning in both games, and the second contest saw the Vikings plate three runs to force extra innings. In that nightcap, the Spartans twice had to rally from four runs down, in both the eighth and ninth innings. After a key double play in the 10th finally prevented the Vikings from scoring, NSU made it a doubleheader sweep on Bond's bloop single with two outs in the bottom of the frame.
The Spartans improved to 7-7 on the year after taking three out of four against the Vikings over the weekend. CSU fell to 5-7 overall.
Norfolk State did not get its fill of drama after Saturday's first win. The Spartans were up 3-0 going into the seventh in game 2. Senior Tuli Iosefa had hit a solo home run in the second for the early lead, although NSU did not record another hit until the sixth. Iosefa hit an RBI single that frame, and the Spartans scored another run on a groundout for their three-run advantage.
The Vikings were down to their last out in the seventh after a pair of walks had put two runners on. An RBI double brought home one run, and CSU's Mackenzie Tucker smacked a two-run single into center to tie it up against Spartan starter Cam Andersen, who had been cruising up to that point.
She got out of the inning, but the Spartans stranded runners on second and third in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings. From there, game 2 produced plenty of more drama.
Torrie Jenkins hit a three-run home run as part of a four-run eighth for CSU, giving the Vikings a 7-3 lead. But NSU had an answer. Freshman Yrral Davis hit an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to start a rally. Juniors Denisha Megginson and Lily Potter followed with two more RBI singles, and all of a sudden the Spartans were down by just one.
Despite Megginson getting thrown out at home on Potter's hit for the potential tying run, Potter was able to cross the plate after getting to third on a wild pitch and scoring on an RBI groundout from sophomore Morgan Johnson.
But the Spartans had to do it all over again in the ninth after the Vikings again scored four runs. Sydney Bajusz' three-run blast to left center gave them a three-run lead, and an RBI double later in the inning made it 11-7 in favor of Cleveland State.
Nevertheless, NSU was not to be denied. Senior Jade Dixon doubled to put runners on second and third in the ninth, and the CSU third baseman mishandled a ball hit off the bat of Bond to score two. After an Iosefa single, Bond scored on a wild pitch, and Davis again delivered with a single into right center to tie the score at 11-11.
Later with two outs and Vaughan on first, junior Alison Guckin smacked a double over the head of the right fielder. Vaughan, though, was given the green light to head home, where she was thrown out for the final out of the inning.
Nevertheless, the Spartans escaped the top of the 10th without allowing a run thanks to Moore doubling off the runner at second on a line drive out to center. The Spartans had a chance to end it earlier in the bottom of the 10th, but CSU got an out at home on a suicide squeeze. No matter. Bond blooped one down the right field line that just caught some chalk to score Moore with two outs, ending a contest that lasted more than three hours.
NSU finished with 15 hits in game 2. Moore and Iosefa each had three hits, and Iosefa and Bond each scored three runs. Both Iosefa and Davis drove in a pair as well.
Senior Skylar Swain (1-0) got her first win of the year after pitching a scoreless 10th.
Megginson, meanwhile, hit 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBI in the first game. The Spartans were the ones who had to rally initially after falling behind 4-0 after two innings. They did just that, plating three in the fourth to get things going.
Iosefa and Megginson singled with one out, and Potter doubled home a run. Guckin beat out an infield hit to make it 4-2, and Potter later came home on a throwing error to cut the deficit to just one.
Then in the fifth, Iosefa walked with two outs and scored with Megginson blasted one over the left-center field fence for a 5-4 edge.
A double and a sac fly in the seventh allowed CSU to tie the score at 5-5. Bond, however, hustled to second on a bloop double to shallow center field, and Vaughan also dropped a hit into center field to end game 1.
The Spartans had 10 hits in the first contest, while sophomore Kirsten Greene (1-0) got the win in relief. She pitched six innings and allowed just four hits and one earned run with five strikeouts.
NSU struck out just three times all afternoon.
NSU will next head to Radford for a pair of doubleheaders beginning on Wednesday. MEAC play begins next weekend at Morgan State.