The Howard softball team won three of their four games this past weekend at the Campus Suites Spartan Classic hosted by South Carolina-Upstate, recording three consecutive wins over LaSalle, Oakland and Lafayette following a loss to the tournament hosts.
The Bison (3-3) opened up the tournament against an undefeated USC Upstate team (16-0) where they shutout HU, 2-0. On the mound for the Bison was Emily Johnson who gave up a homer in the third and RBI walk in the sixth.
Marisa Coats was the only Bison to record any hits against USC Upstate. Coats finished with two hits in the shutout loss, notching a double and a single.
Following the 2-0 loss, Howard rebounded in an explosive way to post their first win of the season against LaSalle (1-3), outscoring the Explorers, 9-1.
In the hitting frenzy the team notched a season high of 15 hits in the six-inning game and limited LaSalle to only five. Leading the way for the Bison at the plate was shortstop Rebecca Kirshner and Ciera Gordon with three hits, two runs and RBI a piece. Gordon would go on to complete the tournament with most hits for the Bison with seven.
Christine Sborz got things started for Howard with a lead-off double in the bottom of the first inning. She made it back across the plate to give HU the 1-0 lead after Kirshner singled to left center field.
Howard went on to score in every inning, excluding the fourth, and finished the final inning with four runs and four hits. Carly Martin received her first win of the season and struck out four and walked only two batters.
Following their dominating performance against LaSalle, Howard swept Oakland (4-8), 4-3 and then Lafayette (0-4), 8-2. Both Martin and Johnson split the mound against Lafayette. Martin gave up four hits through four innings while Johnson gave up three hits through three innings and both gave up a run a piece.
Against Oakland Samantha Gatson remained in the pitcher’s circle all seven innings. Gatson gave up eight hits, but a solid Bison defense coupled with Gatson’s four strikeouts would contain Oakland’s offense to three runs and secure HU’s third straight win.
The Bison will look to remain hot and extend their winning streak to four games when they travel to Lubbick, Tex. March 4-6 for the Texas Tech Invitational.
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Other Howard News Lacrosse
After failing to overcome an early 12-2 deficit, the Howard lacrosse team fell to Presbyterian, 19-9, in what was a statistically even match on Saturday afternoon. Despite the loss, the Bison (0-3) generated their highest scoring performance on the season.
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