EAST GREENSBORO – Senior North Carolina A&T pitcher and right-hander Kayla Douglas did not record her first career win until the 2023 season. But during the 2023 season, she is putting all that behind her, emerging as one of the Aggies most valuable pitchers.
Douglas continued to prove that over the weekend, helping the A&T softball program earn its first-ever Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) three-game series sweep. The CAA named her its co-pitcher of the week on Monday for her efforts. It is the fifth weekly honor the Aggies have earned this season and the first of Douglas' career.
She posted a 2-0 record in the circle, pitching 8.1 innings of relief without giving up an earned run. In Game 1 of the series on Friday, Douglas scattered three hits in 3.1 innings without surrounding an earned run, allowing the Aggies to rally from a 6-0 deficit to win 8-6. Two days later, Douglas returned for the series finale, tossing 5.0 innings of shutout softball with four strikeouts, as A&T rallied again, erasing a 2-0 deficit this time to win 7-2.
A&T's weekend, led by Douglas, gives the Aggies an enormous boost toward qualifying for the CAA Softball Championship Tournament in 2 ½ weeks. The Aggies enter the week 15-29 overall and 8-10 in the CAA. The top eight teams qualify for the tournament in Hempstead, NY, May 9-13. A&T is in seventh place 1 ½ games ahead of eighth-place Monmouth. In addition, the Aggies are 2 ½ games ahead of ninth-place Stony Brook.
Douglas shared the pitcher of the week honor with Stony Brook's Mia Haynes. After losing the 14 decisions of her career, Douglas is 4-7 this season with a 5.48 ERA. The other Aggies to win weekly softball honors are Sierra Baldwin (rookie of the week, 3/7), Megan Ellis (rookie of the week, 4/3), Jai Deese (player of the week, 4/10) and Joey Barkhimer (co-pitcher of the week, 4/10).
A&T's season continues this weekend when they start a three-game series with the Hampton Pirates in Hampton, Va., on Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader. The series finale is on Sunday at 1 p.m.
