TOWSON, Md. – Bad weather altered Saturday's North Carolina A&T at Towson Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) softball contest. The Towson Tigers defeated the Aggies 5-1 at Tiger Softball Stadium when the skies cleared.
The original schedule had the two teams playing a noon doubleheader on Saturday, but instead, they reduced Saturday's competition to one game after the game experienced a lightning delay at 1:30 p.m. and only resumed at 4:30 p.m. On Sunday, the teams will play a noon doubleheader. By dropping the first game of the three-game series, the Aggies moved to 12-27 overall and 5-8 in CAA play. Towson won its fourth straight, improving to 21-17 overall and 10-6 in league play.
A&T center fielder Jai Deese hit her team-leading sixth home run of the season in the fifth inning. She went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Her two-hit performance marked her team-leading 12th of the season.
Towson took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI double by Mackenzie Lake. The Tigers added two more in the third when Madyson Peters' RBI sacrifice fly scored Briana Ramirez from third, who initially reached on a fielding error. Cori Jones, who reached on a double, then scored off an RBI single from Cara Bohner for a 3-0 Tigers lead.
A&T got a run back in the fifth, thanks to Deese's home run. But Towson starter Maddie Gardner (W, 9-6) proved too effective on Saturday. She pitched a complete game, four-hitter, giving up one run and striking out eight. After Deese's home run, she struck out Dezianna Patmon to end the fifth and opened the sixth by striking Jocelyn Bennett.
Following the long lightning delay, she retired all five Aggies she faced to secure the win for Towson. Sharla Kirkpatrick replaced Right-hander Joey Barkhimer (L, 4-7) in the circle after the lightning delay. Before the bad weather, Barkhimer pitched five innings, giving up eight hits, two earned runs, and striking out four. Towson added two more runs in the sixth off Kirkpatrick.
Jones led the Tigers by going 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Ramirez scored three times for Towson. Alyxx Estrada reached on a single for the Aggies extending her streak of reaching base safely to 10 straight games.
