Box Score
Hampton, Va. – Down 7-4 after four innings, Hampton scored four runs in its final three at bats, the final one coming on an RBI double by Leslie Hooks in the bottom of the seventh to give the Lady Pirates an 8-7 win over Morgan State. With the victory the Lady Pirates advance to the championship game of the Hampton University Softball Tournament where they’ll face South Carolina State.
The Lady Pirates jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in their first at bat when freshman first baseman Jada Jeffries stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and tripled to left center. Evelyn Garcia promptly drove in Jeffries with a single to right to put Hampton in front 4-0 after one.
However, Morgan State responded with four runs in the top of the second as well. Ashley Vasquez reached base on an error by Garcia, Megan Jimenez walked and Karlana Ingram singled to load the bases with no outs. Carolyn Howard then tripled off of HU starter Amanda Black to clear the bases and cut the Lady Pirates lead to 4-3. Howard crossed the plate on a wild pitch to knot the score at four apiece, but the Lady Bears rally was halted there as Black settled in to retire the next three batters.
Morgan State added a run in the third on an RBI single by Jimenez and two more in the fourth on a pair of run-scoring singles by Porsche Boddicker and Chanel Lee that put the Lady Bears in front 7-4 heading into the fifth.
Hampton climbed to within a run by capitalizing on a throwing error by third baseman Megan Jimenez that allowed Jeffries and Jennifer Gonzales to cross the plate. In the sixth Hampton junior Brittany Davis reached base on a fielder’s choice and promptly stole second to move into scoring position. A single to left field by Maggie Wolfe brought Davis around and tied the score at seven apiece with one at bat remaining for both teams.
After the first two Morgan State batters were retired to start the seventh, Dominisha Britton singled and advanced to second when Nastosha Johnson was hit by a pitch. Carissa Washington then followed with a soft single to short left field and Britton ran through a stop sign by her third base coach and was nailed at home by Hampton left fielder Angela Balser. Balser threw a strike to catcher Jennifer Gonzales who held on to the ball despite being run in to by Britton.
The great defensive play in the top half of the inning seemed to ignite the Lady Pirates who got things started with a leadoff double down the right field line by Garcia. Casandra Toole grounded out to shortstop advancing Garcia to third and Leslie Hooks who had been 0-for-3 on the day, doubled in the game-winning run.
Ashley Weissenbach registered the win for the Lady Pirates to improve to 3-0 on the year after relieving Black and tossing three and two thirds innings of shutout ball.
