DURHAM, N.C. – Coppin State's softball team took the series from North Carolina Central University with a 9-3 victory on Saturday afternoon at Thomas Brooks Park. CSU evened their record at 12-12 overall along with a 7-2 record in the MEAC while NCCU fell to 9-25 on the year and 5-4 in league play.
Manaia Fonoti went 2-for-4 with a triple, a run scored and an RBI while Brooklyn Tapusoa also had a two-hit game with a run and an RBI. Xzylia Maravilla drove in a pair of runs as both Celeste Gonzales and Giselle Ulloa scored twice. Julianna Mejia doubled, scored a run, drove in another and drew a walk.
Vanessa Carrizosa tossed a complete game to improve to 8-9 on the season, allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out five.
CSU got out to an early lead with four runs in the first inning. Gonzales drove in the first run with a single to right, driving in Aniyah Haley who led off the game with a single before stealing second and getting to third on an error. Fonoti followed with a single and got to second on a wild pitch and Seryna Esparza grounded out to score Gonzales. Another fielding error and a double by Mejia added two more runs, giving Coppin a 4-0 lead.
Carrizosa escaped trouble in the first and got a 1-2-3 second inning, and CSU added two more runs in the third on an RBI triple by Fonoti. Tapusoa also singled in Ulloa who reached on a fielder's choice.
Coppin scored another three runs to take a 9-0 lead in the sixth with Maravilla driving in Tapusoa and Mejia with a single to left. Haley added a sacrifice fly which drove in Avianna Peterson.
N.C. Central got on the board with two runs in the bottom half to extend the game but was only able to add one more run in the seventh.
CSU travels to Delaware on Tuesday, April 2 for a 2 pm doubleheader before hosting South Carolina State for a three-game series on April 6-7.