South No. 1 Winston-Salem State 5, North No. 4 Virginia Union 1

PETERSBURG, Va. – Nikki Lynch was 3-for-3 with two RBI and Brittany Lane was masterful as the defending CIAA Champion Winston-Salem State Lady Rams cruised to a 5-1 victory over Virginia Union in an opening round game of the CIAA Softball Tournament.

Lane allowed just two hits and struck out 16 to earn the win.

The Lady Rams (25-16), who moved on to the winner’s bracket to face Bowie State, scored four runs with two outs in the fourth inning, using two hits and two errors to break open a 1-0 game.

Tanaya Pettus added two hits and drove in a run for Winston-Salem State.

Virginia Union (11-27) fell to the loser’s bracket to play St. Augustine’s.

North No. 1 Chowan 7, South No. 4 Johnson C. Smith 6

Liz Hipple belted a two-run double down the left field line to rally Chowan by upset-minded Johnson C. Smith 7-6 in an opening round game of the CIAA Softball Tournament.

After the Lady Golden Bulls scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning to take a 6-4 lead, the Hawks came back with three runs in the bottom half of the inning to advance in the winner’s bracket.

Hipple had three hits while Leigh Ward, Amber Matthews, Jordan Peay and Kayla Brady had two hits apiece for the Northern Division champion, which banged out 14 hits.

Elizabeth McElveen had two hits for Johnson C. Smith, which will play Fayetteville State in the loser’s bracket.

The game was tied at 2 through five innings before the teams combined for nine runs in the last two innings.

North No. 3 Virginia State 1, South No. 2 Fayetteville State 0

Jessica Mattia won the game with her arm – and her bat.

Mattia, the league-leader in strikeouts, hurled a 1-hit shutout and drove in the game’s only run as Virginia State (18-17) clipped Fayetteville State (10-36) 1-0 in an opening round game at the CIAA Softball Tournament.

Mattia, the No. 9 batter, singled up the middle with two outs in the top of the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie, then retired Sencerae Locklear with a runner on second base to close out the victory.

Mattia (18-15) struck out 11 and faced just three batters over the minimum. She retired the first 10 batters in order to start the game before Maya Washington singled.

Tia Caldwell (5-9) took the hard luck loss, scattering seven hits while fanning six.

Dominique Johnson and Mattia each had two hits for Virginia State, which advanced to play Chowan in the next round.

Fayetteville State fell to the loser’s bracket to face Johnson C. Smith.

North No. 2 Bowie State 12, South No. 3 St. Augustine’s 1 (5)

CIAA Rookie of the Year Cassandra Clayborne was 3-for-3 as Bowie State drubbed St. Augustine’s 12-1 in five innings in an opening round game of the CIAA Softball Tournament.

The Lady Bulldogs (19-14) banged out 12 hits with Justine Smith and Amanda Ray joined CIAA Player of the Year Cara Nance with two hits apiece. Haley Snyder drove in a game-high five runs.

Bowie State scored five runs in the first inning and added three more in the second to break the game open early.  Haley Flint (5-5) struck out eight and scattered five hits in five innings to earn the win.

Ramadana Simmons had two hits to pace St. Augustine’s (12-21) at the plate.

Bowie State advanced to play Winston-Salem State in the winner’s brackwet while St. Augustine’s falls to take on Virginia Union in the loser’s bracket.