| The North Carolina A&T softball team wrapped up its opening MEAC series by completing a sweep of South Carolina State, 4-2, Monday afternoon at the Lady Aggie Softball Complex.
“I think it was important that we came out strong and worked all seven innings of each game,” head coach Kenya Peters said about the series. “They did a great job of finishing this weekend. We had some timely hits and we’ve improved on not leaving so many runners on base. It was also good to see so many different people in the lineup get clutch hits for us.”
The Aggies (11-14 overall) move to 3-0 in the conference while the Bulldogs fell to 7-16 overall and 0-3 in the MEAC.
Once again A&T did all of its damage in just one inning. Sophomore Alexiss Dominguez led off the third inning with a hit to left field followed up behind junior Raven Smith’s bunt single. Senior Dominique Smith cleared the bases with her first triple of the season, a shot to right-center field which gave A&T the 2-0 lead.
Junior Zebresha Blakeney reached first after drawing a walk and stole second, putting Aggies on second and third. Freshman Dasia Moore stretched the Aggies’ lead to 4-0 with her ninth double of the season.
A&T did a great job defensively of keeping the Bulldogs from scoring, behind freshman pitcher Maiven McKnight’s performance. She kept SCSU scoreless until the seventh inning when pinch hitter Tiffany Harris doubled to right center to drive in Tamaya McQueary who reached on a walk. The Bulldogs scored their final run off a sac fly by Jasmine Greer that scored Mikala Johnson who singled earlier in the inning.
McKnight improved to 5-2 on the season while Vianney Gomez dropped to 3-9 in the circle.
“I really didn’t expect to see this much time on the field,” McKnight said about her rookie season thus far. “It’s such a good feeling and it’s exciting to know that I can be counted on.”
“Maiven is progressing,” Peters said. “She’s coachable and that’s what we look for in our players. She comes out here and she works hard. If she doesn’t get something, she continues to work on it every day. She’s going to be a big part of the team going forward especially in conference play. We’re not just going to rely on just one pitcher or player, everyone has to give it their all.”
A&T will visit Elon on Tuesday, April 1 for a single non-conference game beginning at 5:30 p.m.
“Every game is important, not just conference games,” Peters said about A&T’s upcoming game against Elon. “We look to build each day.” |
