By: Juamarley Miller

The Delaware State University softball team (8-13, 1-1 MEAC) opened the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) on the road Saturday afternoon with a 4-3 loss to the UMES Hawks (6-14, 1-1 MEAC) for its fifth consecutive defeat, but redeemed themselves later in the day with a 7-4 victory.

This was the first loss suffered to UMES in over two years.

Freshman Alexis Goldsby relieved junior starting pitcher Nicole Brock.

Unfortunately for the Hornets, Goldsby’s game started with a pair of RBI-singles from UMES’ Samantha Casarez and Mackenzie Brown, creating the first lead for the Hawks.

Following another bad pitch from Goldsby, Sara Jo Whaley scored the go-ahead run from third adding to the Hawks’ lead.

After being replaced by starter Nicole Brock, DSU had one more shot at a win, being led by Nicole Gazzola, who registered a double and run scored.

To begin the seventh inning, infielder Jordan Stamps slapped a single to left field, followed by infielder Haley Jones moving her into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt.

All hope for a comeback was crushed after Mika Lumsden and Khaliyah Flournory hit back-to-back fly outs to end game one of the double header.

At the beginning of game two, it seemed DSU had fallen into a similar fate, giving up an early 1-0 lead.

However, DSU did not give up, fighting back with a three-run output in back-to-back at-bats with infielder Chloe Oro connecting for a RBI- double, followed by catcher Sandy Hawthorne sending one over the left-center field wall.

The Hornets continued to pour on the points after Stamps and Flournory scored in the fourth inning.

To close out the game, the Hornets scored another two runs on four hits, which included doubles by Stamps, Brock and freshman Sabrina Quarles.

Up next, the Hornets will play in their finale against the Hawks and look to take the series 2-1.