ORMOND BEACH, Fla. (May 9) - The Florida A&M Softball team advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2013 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament as the Lady Rattlers defeated Delaware State, 8-6 in the opening round, here Thursday afternoon at Ormond Beach Softball Complex.
FAMU (20-30) tallied four hits in the contest as four Lady Rattlers finished with one hit each.
DSU (20-34) finished the contest with game high 11 hits with Nicole Gazzolla finishing with a team high three hits, followed by Rochelle Sablay and Miranda Pedersen with two.
Ashleigh Minter (6-11) picked up the win for the Lady Rattlers as she pitched three and two-third innings, allowing eight hits, two earned runs and two walks in the 22 batters she faced, while Jennifer Lindsey (1) earned her first save of the season as she pitched three and one-third innings in relief, allowing three hits, two earned runs and striking out three in the 16 batters she faced.
Rachel Meagley (6-15) got the loss for the Lady Hornets as she pitched six innings, allowing four hits, three earned runs and striking out four in the 34 batters she faced.
DSU jumped out to 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning as both Gazzolla and Chole Oro scored on a Sablay double to right field.
The Lady Rattlers would regain the lead in the bottom of the first inning as both Brielle Gordon and Ashanti Shepherd scored on a Myrick single to right field, followed by a Lady Hornet error scoring both Robbielyn Roberson and Myrick and then Tikeya Strong would score on a wild pitch, giving the Lady Rattlers, a 5-2 lead.
FAMU added to their lead in the bottom of the third inning as Bianca Torres scored on a DSU fielding error, followed by a Christina Robbs ground out to scoring Alyssa Weaver and Strong would steal home, giving the Lady Rattlers, a 8-2 lead.
DSU would score two runs in the top of the fourth as Miranda Pedersen scored on a FAMU error, followed by a Sablay single to right center scoring Gazzolla, cutting FAMU’s lead to 8-4.
The Lady Hornets would plate two runs in the top of the sixth inning for the 8-6 finale.
With the win, FAMU will face Hampton University in the quarterfinal round at 7 p.m., while Delaware State moves into the loser bracket and will face North Carolina A&T in a 4:30 p.m. elimination game.
