Chowan captures CIAA softball crown
Published 9:49 am Tuesday, May 9, 2017
- Members of Chowan University’s softball team pose with the CIAA Tournament Championship banner they earned this past weekend after going undefeated in the event. | Courtesy Chowan University
ETTRICK, VA – The Chowan University softball team defeated Bowie State 6-1 here Saturday afternoon to claim the CIAA Softball Championship. It was Chowan’s third CIAA title since joining the league in 2009, and going 4-0 in the CIAA Tournament gives the Hawks (36-18) the automatic berth into the NCAA DII Softball Championships.
Tina White, Kris Neal, and Emily Stafford led Chowan at the plate with two hits each. White and Neal a triple apiece, while Haley Cooper posted a double with Brook Bowen, Haley Cooper, Danielle Baccus, White and Brittany Parsons tallying an RBI apiece.
Kayla Robins grabbed the win in the circle to move to 24-8 on the season. Robins threw a complete game allowing one run off four hits and dished out 11 strikeouts.
Neal, White, Baccus and Robins were named to the All-Tournament Team while Robins was also named CIAA All-Tournament MVP.
Bowie State took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Chowan countered in the bottom of the frame to take the lead and never look
Emily Stafford fouls off a pitch in this weekend’s CIAA Softball Tournament in Virginia. The Lady Hawks went 4-0 in the event to capture their third title since joining the league.
back. With Katrina Simmons on third, Baccus hit a single to right field to knot things at 1-all before White gave the Hawks the lead with a triple to left center for the 2-1 advantage.
Meanwhile, Robins settled in during the second inning striking out the side.
Neal pushed the Hawk advantage to 3-1 in the bottom of the second inning after a lead-off triple. Neal would score later in the inning on a wild pitch.
Chowan tacked on another run in the bottom of the third inning on a walk, single and a Bulldog error to lead 4-1.
The Hawks continued to score in the bottom of the fourth and keep the Bulldogs at-bay. Cooper would deliver Shannon Buchanan with two outs with a double down the left field line to push the Hawks’ lead to 5-1.
Bowie State made some noise in the top of the sixth inning getting two runners on base but Robins would get the final two outs to stop the threat.
Chowan’s final run came in the bottom of the sixth inning when Bowen brought home Stafford on a sacrifice fly to left and give the Hawks a 6-1 advantage.
BSU tried to rally in the top of the seventh loading the bases with two outs, but Chowan settled down and recorded the final out of the game on a fly out.
Chowan earned the 8-seed in the Atlantic-1 Regional in Wise, VA on May 11-13. The Hawks open Thursday against top-seed and PSAC champ, West Chester of PA (44-10).