Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Lincoln University softball team got home runs from Avree Morton (Uniondale, N.Y./Holy Trinity HS) and Jasmine Dabney (Baltimore, Md./New Town HS) at the CIAA Round-up, but the Lady Lions went 0-3 on Thursday afternoon at Arnette Park.
 
Lincoln began the day with a 13-5 loss to Saint Augustine's and dropped a 9-5 decision to Shaw in the second game of the day. In the final contest, the Lady Lions were shutout to host Fayetteville State, 9-0.
 
Against the Lady Falcons, Lincoln (3-7 overall, 1-5 CIAA) pounded out 10 hits, including three by Morton, Toni Smith (New Castle, DE/William Penn HS) and Mariah Liberty (Waterbury, Vt./Harwood Union HS).
 
The Lady Lions opened the scoring with a run in the first as Smith singled up the middle to score Erin Rucker (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights HS), who reached base on a fielder's choice.
 
Saint Augustine's answered with four runs in the second as Lincoln closed the gap to 4-2 with a run in the third. The Lady Falcons exploded for nine runs on five hits and took advantage of three errors to grab a 13-2 advantage heading into the bottom of the sixth.
 
The Lady Lions tried to rally and plated three runs on four hits in the frame.
 
Danielle Owes (Edgewater Park, N.J./Burlington County Institute of Technology) led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Emily Woodruff (San Diego, CA/Madison HS) doubled to left center to score Owes. With two outs, Morton belted her first homer of the season to cut the deficit to 13-5. Smith and Liberty followed with back-to-back base hits, but Mariah Coates (Reading, Pa./Reading HS) struck out to end the threat and the game.
 
Rucker surrendered 13 runs (four earned) on 14 hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks to take the loss in six innings.
 
Michelle Shackleford picked up the win in six innings. She gave up five runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts and three walks.
 
Against Shaw, Dabney and Owes had a combined four of the Lady Lions' seven hits in the loss.
 
Much like against Saint Augustine's, Lincoln began the scoring in the first inning as Emily Woodruff (San Diego, CA/Madison HS), who led off the game with a walk, scored on Liberty's infield single.
 
The Lady Bears responded with two runs in the second and three in the third to take a 5-1 advantage into the fourth.
 
The Lady Lions answered with a three-run fourth to cut the deficit to 5-4.
 
With one down, Dabney belted her first collegiate home run and Owes followed with a single. With two down, Owes scored when Rucker singled and came in to score to trim the margin.
 
Shaw plated a run in the bottom of the inning to take a 6-4 lead and again Lincoln was able to pull to within a run in the top of the sixth.
 
Owes singled to right to open the inning and advanced to second when Woodruff stroked a base hit up the middle. Owes came in to score when Smith was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
 
However, the Lady Bears put the game away with three runs in the bottom of the frame.
 
Rucker took loss in six innings of work. She gave up nine runs on 15 hits and fanned five.
 
Gina Yozzo earned the win in six innings as she gave up five runs on six hits and struck out 11. Taylor Moore worked an inning in relief.
 
In the final game of the day for Lincoln, Woodruff paced the offense with a pair of hits as Fayetteville State scored four in the first inning and didn't look back.
 
Owes (1-2) took the loss on the mound for Lincoln as she gave up nine runs on eight hits in four innings.
 
Spencer Embler (2-6) worked five innings and fanned eight to get the win for the Lady Broncos (5-21, 4-2).
 
Lincoln takes on Shaw at 10 a.m., on Friday, March 22, before heading to Richmond, Va., to meet Virginia Union in a CIAA Northern doubleheader at 1 p.m., on Saturday, March 23.