Lady Bison Still Alive After Day One in MEAC Championship Tournament
ORMOND BEACH, FL - Despite dropping its opening game to Number 1 Bethune Cookman, the Howard Univ. softball team defeated S.C. State 12-4 to keep themselves in the running for the MEAC title.
BETHUNE-COOKMAN 8, HOWARD 0 Boxscore
The Lady Bison were held scoreless for just the sixth time this season, as they were taken down by Bethune-Cookman 8-0 in five innings.
Allison Garcia threw a four-hit shutout as the Wildcats (29-23) won their seventh straight game. The Wildcats will face the winner of the Morgan State/Norfolk State matchup Thursday evening at 7 p.m.
B-CU took a 1-0 lead in the third when Aurelia Gamch doubled and scored on a Garcia single. The Wildcats blew the game open in the fourth, capitalizing on two Bison (17-25) errors to plate five runs.
The Wildcats put an early end to the game in the fifth when Ashton Hinds doubled home Briana Leverett and scored on a Howard error.
Hinds and Leverett each had registered two hits and two runs scored. Gamch also scored twice.
Garcia walked none and struck out three as she improved to 22-10 on the season. The 2011 MEAC Pitcher Of The Year is now 12-0 against MEAC competition.
HOWARD 12, SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 4 Boxscore
Howard bounced back from its loss earlier in the day by defeating South Carolina State 12-4 in five innings. The Lady Bison advanced and will face the loser of the Florida A&M/ Delaware State game.
Denitia Carter got on the board first for the Lady Bulldogs of South Carolina State on a RBI by Shannon Baity. Howard countered with an Emily Johnson score off a Marisa Coats RBI double.
Tied at one apiece, the Lady Bison broke up the game scoring four runs in the second inning. The Lady Bulldogs attempted to close the gap with a score of their own as Taylor-Anne Harris scored off a Chelesa Evans RBI. Heading into the third, the Lady Bison maintained a 6-4 lead.
Howard continued their pace in the fourth inning with two runs on two hits. They closed out the fifth and final inning with four more runs putting the mercy rule in effect to end the game at 12-4.
Emily Johnson (3-13) allowed four runs on two hits with three strikeouts. Raven Johnson (5-23) took the loss, giving up five runs, five earned, with six hits in 1.2 innings of play.
(Courtesy MEAC Media Relations)