Ettrick, VA – The Virginia State Women's Softball team will look to make their presence felt in the conference as they prepare to compete in the CIAA Softball Round-Up. On day one, the Trojans will take on Fayetteville State (5-11) and St. Augustine's (0-10). On day two, they will have dates with Livingstone College (0-0) and Winston-Salem State (3-5). The final day's matchups will include Claflin (2-8) and Johnson C. Smith (1-4). The three-day event will be at Walnut Creek Softball Complex in Raleigh, NC on Friday, March 25, Saturday, March 26 and Sunday, March 27. Friday's games will commence at 10:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. while Saturday's games will start at 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Sunday's games will be at 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Virginia State is currently ranked within the top-three in both hitting and pitching. The Trojans are second in the Northern Division of the CIAA despite being the only team in the CIAA to currently have a winning record. Offensively, the Trojans are led by Macy Beville who sits at second in the conference from the plate maintaining an astounding .529 batting average. She is also second in the conference with a .579 on-base percentage while a .647 slugging percentage ranks her fifth in the conference. The dangerous freshman Hailey Darrington leads the team in stolen bases going 8-of-8 on the bath paths, runs with nine and at-bats with 26. Alani Horton is third on the team in batting average with a .417 while also leading the squad in RBI (7) and hits (10). The veteran Samantha Cunningham leads the team with 12 total bases touched while maintaining a .381 batting average, which ranks her fourth on the team. Julia Jones is the lone Trojan to have a homerun in the season along with four RBI. As a team, the squad bats a whopping .327 from the plate as seven players maintain a batting average over a .300. The Trojans rank second in the CIAA in hitting and pitching. The pitching rotation averages just 4.23 earned runs per contest. Alaijah Pratt has been lights out this in the circle this season as a 3.00 is ranks her first in the conference while holding down the second spot in opponents' batting average against her, which is a .280. Pratt also leads the team in strikeouts with 14. Leah Harrison is currently third in the conference in hits allowed with 13. Harrison is also second on the team in batting average (.455). Hailey Darrington leads the outfield with 16 putouts while Samantha Cunningham leads with 22 assisted outs on the season. The Trojans will look to clean up their play defensively as they have 17 errors so far this season.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, March 25
Virginia State vs. Fayetteville State
Virginia State vs. St. Augustine's
10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. *Raleigh, NC
Saturday, March 26
Virginia State vs. Livingstone
Virginia State vs. Winston-Salem State
10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. * Raleigh, NC
Sunday, March 27
Virginia State vs. Claflin
Virginia State vs. Johnson. C. Smith
9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. * Raleigh, NC
About CIAA Opponents
Fayetteville State currently leads the Southern Division with a 5-11 overall record. The Broncos look to turn things around as they have dropped five of their last six games. That being said, the squad is fresh off a 6-5 win against Methodist. FSU struggles from the plate hitting just .197 from the plate with a .263 on-base percentage. Mikayala Jackson is the only player on the team to bat over a .300 as she maintains a .318. Kyra Mitchell is currently third in the conference with 12 RBI and is second on the team with a .278 batting average while also leading the conference in home runs with two alongside her teammate Grace Vincent. Breynka Brown is ranked third in the conference in strikeouts (19) while BreAnna Steele, the ace of the team, maintains a 3.97 ERA (fourth in the conference) with 18 strikeouts with only nine walks.
St. Augustine's is currently fifth in the Southern Division with a 0-10 overall record. The Falcons have had a rough go of things so far this season losing five games by double-digits. SAU will be coming into the CIAA Round-Up with a chip on their shoulders, as they are fresh off a pair of double-digit losses to Benedict. SAU will look to improve from the plate as they hit just .192 as a team with a .257 on-base percentage. Victoria Spoon is the only player to bat over a .300 with a .320. She also leads her team in hits (8), total bases (13), slugging percentage (.520) and on-base percentage (.370). Victoria DeLaCruz is currently tied for first in the league in home runs with two. Madison Poston leads her squad in innings pitched with 26 along along with seven strikeouts and nine walks.
Livingstone will make their season debut in the CIAA Round-Up against Bowie State. The LC softball team's last time on the field was in 2019 when they went 0-30 as they allowed 20 points on five different occasions. The last time the Blue Bears got a win was on April 19, 2018 when they beat Voorhees College 16-3.
Winston-Salem State is currently second in the Southern division with an overall record of 3-4. The Rams enter the CIAA Round-Up on a two-game winning streak after winning beating a common opponent in Bluefield State by a score of 9-1 in both games of the doubleheader. While the Rams are on a hot-streak they did, however, give Elizabeth City State their only win of the season earlier this month. WSSU currently ranks fourth in the conference in batting average with a .255 while they lead the conference in on-base percentage .397. The Rams currently have three players in SeQuoia Wingfield (.556), Alycia Cunningham (.538) and Kendall Hudson (.500) who average a .500 or better from the plate. The CIAA Offensive Player of the Week, Malia Simmons leads her team in RBI with 13, hits with eight, runs with 10, doubles with five and ties for first on the team in walks with five. The Rams have one of the best pitching rotations in the CIAA led by CIAA Pitcher of the Week, Alexis Smith, who pitched five innings and allowed just one run a week ago against BSU. Smith has pitched 32 innings with 14 strikeouts while also maintaining a .308 batting average. Smith has also assisted on 13 outs this season with no errors.
Claflin is currently third in the Southern Division with an overall record of 2-8. The Panthers will look to put an end to their to their six game losing streak in the upcoming CIAA Round-Up. The squad enters play fresh off a couple of rough losses to a talented North Greenville squad. The Panthers bat a .230 from the plate with a .319 on-base percentage. Brenay Howard is currently fourth in the conference with a .364 batting average while leading the team in hits (12), doubles (4), total bases (18), slugging percentage (.545), on-base percentage (.417) and at-bats (33). Bre'Zhay Chambers and Shaniya Thomas lead the Panthers pitchers rotation as Chambers ranks within the top-10 in strikeouts (26) while Thomas leads her team in innings pitched (31.2). Chambers is the ace of the rotation as she leads the squad in earned runs allowed (25) and walks (12). The rotation gives away just 6.78 earned runs per contest.
Johnson C. Smith is currently fourth in the Southern Division with an overall record of 1-4. The Golden Bulls have had 12 games postponed or canceled to this point in the season as their last game was played on March 11. Their lone win this season came against Benedict but have lost two of their five matchups by 10 or more. The Golden Bulls hit .243 from the plate with a .341 on-base percentage. Elle Lawson-Slade leads the team from the plate this season batting a .429 from the plate while leading her team in hits (6), at-bats (14), home runs (1), RBI (5), slugging percentage (.643) and on-base percentage (.529). Mackenzie Grant and Paige Brockington are also hitting well maintaining a .300 batting average. The Golden Bulls pitching rotation averages 13.50 earned runs per contest. Alissa Alvarado leads her team with 12 strikeouts and 24.1 innings pitched.
Next Five Matchups
Mar. 25 CIAA Round-Up: Fayetteville State/St. Augustine's
Mar. 26 CIAA Round-Up: Livingstone/Winston-Salem State
Mar. 27 CIAA Round-Up: Claflin/Johnson C. Smith
Mar. 30 at Norfolk State
Apr. 1 at Shaw
