Box Score

Hampton, Va. – The Lady Pirates of Hampton University used a six-run third inning to eventually lead them to a 12-1 victory over Winston-Salem State in the opening game of the Hampton University Softball Tournament. Sophomore designated hitter Casandra Toole went 2-for-3 with three RBIs for the Lady Pirates who improved to 10-4 on the year.

Hampton took advantage of some control problems by the Lady Ram pitchers to get on the board in the top of the third. With the bases loaded Jennifer Gonzales scored on a wild pitch and Evelyn Garcia walked in her at bat, scoring Brittany Davis who singled early in the inning. Angela Balser increased the Lady Pirates lead to 4-0 with a two-run single and Toole capped things off with a two-run double to right center.

Winston-Salem State (3-15) added a run in the bottom half of the inning when Domica Scott scored on an error by Hampton first baseman Jada Jeffries, but the Lady Rams stranded a runner on third when Ashley Weissenbach got L’Tisha Bell to ground out to third.

Two more wild pitches by Lady Rams pitcher Ashley Boswell led to a pair of Hampton runs in the fourth and Toole led off the fifth with her second home run of the year, a solo shot to right center. Hampton scored three more runs in the top of the fifth to provide the final 12-1 margin.

Leslie Hooks (1-0) came in to pitch the final two innings to record the win for Hampton, while Amber Shore (3-8) picked up the loss for the Lady Rams after allowing five runs in three total innings of work.

In other tournament action Morgan State defeated North Carolina Central 2-1 and South Carolina State blanked Maryland-Eastern Shore 11-0. On Sunday the loser’s bracket will begin play at 9 a.m. with Maryland-Eastern Shore taking on Winston-Salem State with the winner set to face North Carolina Central at 11 a.m. At 1 p.m. Hampton will play Morgan State in the first game of the winner’s bracket and South Carolina State will host the winner at 3 p.m.