Box Scores: North Carolina A&T | La Salle 1 | Coastal Carolina | La Salle 2

CONWAY, S.C. – The Hampton University softball team bounced back with a pair of wins in the Coastal Carolina Tournament on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the CCU Softball Field.

The Lady Pirates (6-14) beat La Salle 6-4 on Friday, before beating La Salle again on Saturday 5-4. Hampton also fell 1-0 to North Carolina A&T on Friday, 8-0 to Coastal Carolina in five innings on Saturday and 6-5 to North Carolina A&T on Sunday.

In Friday's game against La Salle, the Lady Pirates were down 3-0 after three innings. But Hampton pushed across four runs in the top of the sixth to take a 4-3 lead after a sacrifice fly from freshman Margaret Wilkins (Tustin, Calif.) and a three-run home run from junior Kelsei Saunders (Suffolk, Va.) blasted a three-run home run.

The Lady Pirates scored twice in the seventh, thanks to a leadoff homer from junior Shine Huwe (Green Bay, Wisc.) and a sac fly from junior Nina Ferguson (Plymouth, Minn.).

La Salle scored once in the bottom of the seventh, but the Lady Pirates held on for the win.

Freshman Jailynn Jackson (Virginia Beach, Va.) went the distance in picking up her second win of the season, striking out six.

Ferguson and Saunders each went 2-for-3 at the plate.

Hampton jumped out to a 3-0 lead in Saturday's match-up against La Salle in the second inning, thanks to a leadoff homer from Saunders – her second of the tournament and the season – before senior Travonna Byrd (Newport News, Va.) hit a two-run bomb to right-center field.

After La Salle scored twice in the bottom of the second to cut Hampton's lead to 3-2, La Salle tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth on an Alicia Aughton home run.

The Lady Pirates got the lead back in the sixth, pushing across a pair of runs on sac flies by Jackson and Byrd to give Hampton a 5-2 lead. La Salle scored once in the fifth and once in the seventh, but the Lad Pirates held on.

Jackson picked up another win on the mound, striking out six in a complete game effort.

Freshman Bianca Vallejo (Chandler, Ariz.) and senior Sharde' Estep (Aquasco, Md.) each had two hits in Saturday's win.

North Carolina A&T took a pitchers' duel from the Lady Pirates in their first game on Friday, winning 1-0 after scoring in the fourth inning on an RBI groundout. The two teams combined for just three hits in that game.

Byrd went six innings, holding the Lady Aggies to just two hits and one run while striking out two.

Vallejo had Hampton's lone hit in that contest.

Coastal scored once in the second inning on Saturday and twice in the third to take a 3-0 lead on the Lady Pirates, before pushing across five more runs in the fourth to push that game to its final margin.

Wilkins went 1-for-2 at the plate in that game, and Jackson struck out three in 3.1 innings.

The Lady Pirates will return to action on Wednesday, when they come back home for a doubleheader against George Mason at the Lady Pirates Softball Complex at 2 p.m. For more information on Hampton University softball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.