CHOWAN TOPS BOWIE STATE 12-4 and 7-1 TO CLAIM CIAA NORTH CROWN

                (MURFREESBORO, N.C. – April 15, 2012)  The CIAA Northern Division crown was up for grabs when the Chowan Hawks and Bowie State Lady Bulldogs met in the regular season conference finale for both teams.  At the end of the afternoon, Chowan defeated Bowie State 12-4 and 7-1.

             Allie Kolezynski and Leigh Ward combined for 11 hits and Amber Matthews tallied three hits over the two game sweep.  Kolezynski and Ward went 4-for-4 and 2-for-4 respectively in game one for the Hawks.

            Bowie State freshman Cassandra Clayborne went 3-for-3 in the opening game and junior Justine Smith along with sophomore Adria Lewis went 2-for-3 each.

            The Lady Bulldogs cranked out four first inning hits to open a 2-0 lead only to have the Hawks tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the first. 

            Bowie State (16-14, 14-2 CIAA) took a 3-2 lead in the top of the second, but Chowan put seven on the scoreboard in their share of the second and never looked back for the remainder of the first game.

            Bowie State sophomore Shelby Snyder pitched two and two-thirds innings, giving up ten hits and nine runs.  Sophomore Mariela Hernandez gave up five hits over the final two innings.

            Kolezynski (11-10) earned the five inning victory, allowing 10 hits and struck out four.

            Chowan (23-24, 12-4 CIAA) broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning of game two, plating three and added one in the fourth inning and one in the fifth inning to extend their lead to 5-0.

            Bowie State’s lone run in the nightcap came via an RBI single by Lewis in the top of the sixth inning.  Freshman Cara Nance hit a two out double and Lewis followed with her single.

            The Hawks added two more runs on three hits in the bottom of the sixth to seal the 7-1 victory.  In total, Chowan accounted for 12 hits with Ward leading the way with three. 

            Freshman Raenelle Taylor paced the Lady Bulldogs in the final game of the twin bill, going 3-for-3.  Freshman Haley Flint (5-6) took the loss, striking out three over six innings in the circle.

            Bowie State will close out the regular season hosting Washington Adventist University in a non-conference on Monday (April 16^th).  First pitch of the doubleheader is 1 pm.