April 15, 2008

Box Score

Fayetteville, NC - The Lady Broncos sent their seniors off with a bang by dominating Livingstone College in conference softball action on Monday afternoon from Leonard R. Sanders Athletic Field (Seabrook Park). This was the last home contest for FSU and they celebrated the contributions of their senior student-athletes. The match-up was scheduled to be a doubleheader. Due to the long delay awaiting the visiting team's arrival, game two would be forfeited.

Freshman pitcher Alicia Frank struck out three of the four batters that stepped up to the plate in the first inning. Livingstone singled off a bunt, but no runs were scored. Frank was productive on the offensive side as well. Sophomore Danisha Lyons took first after being hit by the pitch. Lyons got into better position to score by stealing second. Frank nailed a single up the gap to the shortstop, bringing Lyons home for the RBI.

The Lady Blue Bears went three up and three down in the second. Meanwhile, FSU exploded in the second inning with nine runs and six hits. Senior catcher Erica Jester singled to get on first and advance to second on a wild pitch. The next two batters were walked and with bases loaded, Jester crossed homeplate.

Still in the second, Frank hit a three RBI triple to right center, scoring freshman shortstop Rahkee Smith, Lyons, and junior centerfielder Dominique Mills. The Lady Broncos continued to put on a hitting clinic in the inning. Senior outfielder Aja Sawyer smacked a triple to left center allowing Frank to score the run. Followed by senior first baseman Shatia Gidrey, who got in on the action with a RBI single to center field; Sawyer scored the run.

After the nine-run inning, Livingstone's chances look depleted. FSU scored two more runs in the third, followed by a five-run inning in the fourth. The Lady Blue Bears scored their one and only run in the top of the fourth. There was a muffed throw by the third baseman and Whitney Armbrister came home from second.

Since Livingstone did not score any runs in the fifth, the game was called via the NCAA run rule. The Lady Broncos earn two victories because of the game two forfeit.

All three seniors faired well on the stat sheet in the contest. Sawyer had three hits, three runs scored, and one RBI. Gidrey also had three runs scored off two hits with two RBIs. Jester scored two runs, along with two RBIs and two hits.

The Lady Broncos improve to 18-14 overall and 15-3 in the CIAA. Fayetteville State now prepares for the 2008 CIAA Softball Championships to be held April 16-19 in Petersburg, Virginia.