Box Score PETERSBURG, Va. – A day after clinching the fourth and final spot from the Northern Division for next week's CIAA Championships, The Lincoln University softball team dropped a 6-1 decision to end regular season conference play at Virginia State.
 
Erin Rucker (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Shaker Heights HS), Toni Smith (New Castle, DE/William Penn HS) and Jasmine Dabney (Baltimore, Md./New Town HS) accounted for all three Lady Lions hits.
 
Lincoln (8-17 overall, 4-13 CIAA) opened the scoring in the top of the first as Danielle Owes (Edgewater Park, N.J./Burlington County Institute of Technology) and Emily Woodruff (San Diego, CA/Madison HS) reached on back-to-back errors. With one out, Smith reached on an infield single and Rucker brought Owes in on a sacrifice fly to left.
 
Virginia State grabbed a 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the inning and scored three in the fourth to take a 5-1 advantage. The Lady Trojans added a run in the sixth to get the victory.
 
Rucker (7-14) gave up six runs on 12 hits in six innings to take the loss.
 
Jessica Mattia earned the victory as scattered three hits through five innings and had eight strikeouts. Scherrie Smith worked two innings in relief.
 
The Lady Lions return to action with their first-ever trip to the CIAA Championships as the No. 4 seed from the Northern Division and will face top seed from the Southern Division Winston-Salem State on Thursday in Petersburg, Va.