CHARLOTTE, NC – The top four seeds (Bowie State, Claflin, Virginia State and Winston-Salem State) in the CIAA Softball Championship Quarterfinals advanced to Friday’s (5/5) semifinals at the RF&P Park in Glen Allen, Va.

The Claflin Lady Panthers (29-10) put on a defensive showcase to take a 5-0 win over the Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls (10-16). As a team, the Lady Panthers totaled eight hits in the game. Freshman Zecaniya Fenwick led the way with a two-for-three batting performance with a run scored and two runs batted in (RBI). Senior Brenay Howard went two-for-three with two doubles and two runs scored. Sophomore centerfielder Aniya Jones added a two-for-three batting effort with a run scored.

With the win, the Lady Panthers advance to the semifinal round and will face Winston-Salem State on Friday (5/5) at 12:30 pm.
The overall top seed Bowie State (32-13) advances to Friday’s (5/5) semifinal after earning a 3-0 shutout victory over the visiting Lady Panthers of Virginia Union (9-23) Tuesday afternoon at the BSU Softball Field. Senior Akirra Pullen was in the circle for the Bulldogs and went the distance, giving up three hits, walking none and striking out four.

Sophomore Morgan Joseph led the way offensively for the Bulldogs, going 2-for-3 in the ballgame which included a triple. As a team, Bowie State out-hit Virginia Union 7-3, drew four walks and stole seven bases in the win. Of those seven stolen bases, sophomore Kayla Evans was responsible for three. Bowie State will now focus its sights on Virginia State in Friday’s (5/5) 10 a.m. opening game. 

No. 4 Virginia State and No. 5 Fayetteville State were matched up in Ettrick on Tuesday afternoon and the host Trojans had no trouble, blanking the Broncos 8-0. The win improved Virginia State’s overall record to 12-17 while Fayetteville State’s season ends at 15-19. The Trojans were led on offense by the sophomore trio of Alaijah Pratt, Hailey Darrington and Nia Hall along with freshman Reina Washington with nine combined hits. Pratt led both teams with three hits, while Darrington, Hall and Washington tallied a pair of hits each.

Freshman Kyla Green pitched all five innings for Virginia State, allowing no hits, one walk and fanned six. 
Winston-Salem State dropped the first of its quarterfinal games to visiting Elizabeth City State as the Vikings edged the Rams 4-3. Fortunately for the Rams, the CIAA Softball Championships are double elimination. 
 
The Elizabeth City State Lady Vikings were led in game one by sophomore Karrington Belangia with three of the total nine team hits. Junior Taisha Bratton and freshman Aniyah Jackson paced the Rams with two hits each in the opening contest setback.
In game two between the Vikings and Rams, Winston-Salem State held a 3-2 advantage after three innings of play and broke the game open with one run in the 4^th inning and plated four runs in the bottom of the 5^th inning to extend its lead to 8-2.

Elizabeth City State managed to trim the Winston-Salem State lead down to 8-5 in the top of the 7^th inning but would get no closer, wrapping up the Vikings season record at 11-17. Senior Kamryn Kirby, sophomore Alycia Cunningham and Aniya Jackson led Winston-Salem State in the game two victory with a pair of hits each. 

Winston-Salem State (21-11) moves on to tangle with Claflin in the 12:30 contest on Friday (5/5) at the RF&P Park.
Follow all semifinals and the 2023 CIAA Softball Championship games via video stream at www.theciaasn.comor live stats at https://theciaa.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary