COVINGTON, Ga. – North Carolina A&T softball opened the annual HBCU Collegiate Softball Invitational with two convincing wins over two of its fellow HBCUs on Friday at Turner Lake Softball Complex.

The Aggies got another home run from junior Jamari Moss in a 5-1 win over Coppin State of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in their first game of the tournament. Later in the day, the Aggies got another solid performance from junior Destiny Sims to defeat Bowie State of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), 8-3.

The Aggies, who play in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), improved to 4-5 on the season. They will face Southern from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) and Howard from the MEAC on Saturday during Day Two of the tournament. The games are at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., respectively.

Reigning CAA Pitcher of the Week Aaliyah Williams (W, 2-1) started against the Coppin State Eagles, pitching a complete-game two-hitter while not allowing an earned run and striking out 12. Her 12 strikeouts tied a career high she first set against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore on April 20, 2024, when she was a member of the S.C. State softball team.

A&T got Walker an early lead in the visitor's first inning. Sophomore Aniya Merritt reached on a one-out single, followed by Coppin starter Tatjana Harris (L, 0-1) walking Sims. An error by Coppin center fielder Aniyah Haley on a Moss flyball allowed Merritt to score and Sims to reach third base.

The Aggies continued to take advantage of the error as sophomore Tya Robinson scored Sims on an RBI sacrifice fly to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead. A&T tried to keep the rally going as junior Trinity Glover walked. But Taniyah Thomas groundout ended the Aggies first. However, A&T added to its lead when Moss hit a leadoff home run in the third before Sims added an RBI single in the fourth to give A&T a 4-0 lead.

Coppin did put a run on the board thanks to an error in the fourth inning, but Williams shut the Eagles down from there. Williams retired nine straight batters from the end of the fourth inning until giving up a one-out double to Giselle Ulloa in the seventh inning. In the meantime, Merritt added anRBI sac fly in the A&T sixth to give the Aggies a four-run lead.

After Ulloa's double, Williams walked Xzylia Maravilla to put runners on first and second. But Williams ended the game by striking out back-to-back batters. Merritt led the Aggies by going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Katriel Williams went 2-for-2 and scored twice.

Against Bowie State, Robinson went 2-for-3 for the Aggies, adding two RBIs and scoring a run. Sims went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored to improve her batting average to .433 on the season. Sophomore Lauren Hardy (W, 2-2) pitched a complete-game four-hitter, striking out eight and giving up three runs.

A&T broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning to take an 8-2 lead. Coppin added a run in the visitor's sixth off an Audrey Newell home run. Hardy, however, took the Eagles down in order in the seventh, striking out Coreena Dunham to end the game.