Box Score
Columbia, S.C. – In a battle of undefeated teams in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play, the Lady Pirates of Hampton University edged Norfolk State 7-6 in 10 innings behind Maggie Wolfe’s RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning. With the win the Lady Pirates improved to 20-8, 5-0 in league play, while the Lady Spartans dropped their first MEAC matchup of the year to fall to 6-1, 14-20 overall.
Norfolk State took an early 3-0 lead behind a three-run home run by third baseman Ashley Archer in the fourth inning. Hampton got on the board in the bottom half of the frame when Evelyn Garcia drove in Wolfe from second base, but the Lady Pirates still trailed 3-1.
The Lady Spartans stretched their lead to 4-1 in the top of the fifth courtesy of an error by the Lady Pirates. Gladys Cabeza and Cassandra Petway opened the inning with back-to-back singles giving Norfolk State runners on first and second. Meghan Ramsey followed with a grounder back to the mound, but Hampton pitcher Amanda Black’s throw to third was offline allowing Cabeza to score. However, Black responded by striking out the final two Norfolk State batters of the inning to end the threat.
It was a pair of miscues that allowed Hampton to score two runs in the fifth as well, beginning with an error by shortstop Jewel White that put Black on first base before she turned things over to pinch runner Jocelyn Matthews. Matthews promptly stole second base and advanced to third when Ashley Weissenbach grounded out. Second baseman Brittany Davis doubled to left-center scoring Matthews and Davis herself crossed the plate when Wolfe’s popup to left field was mishandled by Petway.
After striking out in her first two at bats, Hampton’s Angela Balser redeemed herself with a solo home run in the sixth that knotted the score at four apiece and eventually sent the game into extra innings.
With a base runner placed on second base due to the international tie-breaking rules, each team added a run in the eighth and went scoreless in the ninth as the game remained 5-5 heading into the 10th inning.
Norfolk State went ahead 6-5 on an RBI single to left field by Ramsey and threatened to put more runs across the plate. However, with runners on first and third and two outs, Archer lined out to left field to keep the Hampton deficit at one run.
With Black starting off on second base, Hampton’s Ashley Weissenbach laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Black over to third. Center fielder Tesara Liggins followed with a single to right and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch by Norfolk State reliever Leekycia Brown. Wolfe ended the Lady Pirates longest game since a 10-inning loss to Howard in 2003, by punching a ball into short left-center, giving Hampton the 7-6 victory.
Black pitched all 10 innings for the Lady Pirates, striking out nine and allowing just two earned runs to improve to 11-4 on the season, while Brown suffered the loss for Norfolk State after allowing four runs in relief.
