TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Courtesy: FAMU Athletics) – The FAMU Softball team missed a shot at the number two spot in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Division by splitting a Senior Day home doubleheader with archrival Bethune-Cookman at the Lady Rattler Softball Complex Friday afternoon.
FAMU won the opener in five innings, 11-2, but Bethune-Cookman won the second game, 7-5.
Friday’s split gave visiting Bethune-Cookman (17-30, 11-4) the number two spot in the Southern Division by virtue of their winning two of three games against FAMU (23-26, 11-4), which will enter next month’s MEAC Softball Tournament as the number three seed.
FAMU had 12 hits in the opener, including home runs from Nachelle Watson and Amber Fullwood. Fullwood’s three-run shot in the bottom of the fifth keyed an eight-run outbreak that put FAMU over the top, invoking the eight-run rule after five innings.
B-CU scored a run in the top of the first, before FAMU took the lead for good with two runs in the bottom of the first. They added a single run in the third, before the Lady Cats added a tally in the top of the fifth to cut the FAMU edge to 3-2.
Prior to Fullwood’s walk off three-run blast, Toni Anderson had a two-run single, Jessica Nathan hit a record-tying ninth triple of the year, a two-run shot; Tashayla Irvis socked an RBI single, followed three batters later by Fullwood’s shot.
Junior Kenya Pereira (12-13) had a much better outing in Friday’s first game, tossing a four-hitter with two strikeouts and two walks in five innings.
Nathan led FAMU with three hits, while Fullwood had two hits and three RBIs. Toni Anderson, Kieifi Myrick and Nathan each drove in two runs.
In Game Two, FAMU let a 4-2 lead after four innings slip away in the fifth, when B-CU struck for three runs to barge ahead 5-4, but the Lady Rattlers tied the game at 5-5 with a tally in the bottom of the fifth.
The Lady Cats went ahead for good with a two-run sixth, then they held off FAMU, using veteran pitcher Sabrina Anguiano to pitch two and two-thirds scoreless relief.
FAMU’s Veronica Burse (6-11) went the distance, allowing seven runs on nine hits in seven innings with three strikeouts.
Alexis Day and Toni Anderson led FAMU with two hits in the second game, while Denise Anderson and Kenya Pereira each drove in two runs.
WHAT’S NEXT: FAMU will take on Florida State next Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at JoAnne Graff Field before the May 12-14 MEAC Tournament in Ormond Beach, Florida.
