Box Score FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Toni Smith (New Castle, DE/William Penn HS) had two of the six Lincoln University softball hits on Friday morning, but it wasn't enough to stop Shaw as the Lady Lions fell, 7-3, in a CIAA contest at Arnette Field.
 
Shaw (10-15 overall, 5-4 CIAA) pounded out 10 hits and took a 4-0 lead into the fourth before Lincoln (3-8, 3-6) got on the board.
 
With one out in the fourth, Smith smacked her first collegiate homer to cut the deficit to 4-1.
 
The Lady Bears answered with a run in the fifth and two in the sixth for a 7-1 advantage.
 
The Lady Lions tried to rally in the bottom of the sixth as Lincoln plated two runs on one hit and took advantage of an error to trim the margin to 7-3.
 
With one down to start the sixth, Smith and Emily Woodruff (San Diego, CA/Madison HS) drew back-to-back walks. Both advanced on a passed ball with two outs and scored on Jasmine Dabney (Baltimore, Md./New Town HS)'s double to right center. Mariah Coates (Reading, Pa./Reading HS) reached on an error, but the Lincoln rally ended when Danielle Owes (Edgewater Park, N.J./Burlington County Institute of Technology) flied out to center.
 
Tara O'Brien (Twickenham London, UK/St. Mark's Catholic School), Dabney, Owes and Rucker collected one hit each in the loss.
 
Rucker (2-6) pitched a complete game and gave up seven runs (four earned) on 10 hits with five strikeouts and a pair of walks.
 
Taylor Moore (4-7) earned the win in seven innings. She surrendered three runs (two earned) with five walks and two strikeouts.
 
The Lady Lions continue their brutal road trip with a CIAA Northern Division doubleheader against Virginia Union University on Saturday, March 23. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.