BSU Scuttlebutt
Softball
It is not easy to defeat the same team three times in one season and that was validated as Bowie State defeated Virginia State, 5-3, in thrilling fashion to advance to the CIAA Softball Championship game for the second consecutive season.
Bowie State (23-8) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Senior Erin Gray led off the game with a free pass after being hit by a pitch. Junior pitcher Heather Enders reached on an error by VSU right fielder Nikita Allmond, scoring Gray on the play. Sophomore Annette Makle doubled and recorded two RBI, scoring Enders and junior Virginia Hockey.
VSU (22-9) cut into the BSU lead in the bottom of the fifth inning on a single by Tiffany Coggins, scoring Allmond. The Lady Trojans then tied the game at three runs each in the bottom of the sixth inning on just one hit. Allmond reached on a BSU error that scored Kristen Rountree and Judy Hatch singled, scoring Allmond.
BSU went down in order in the top of the seventh inning as senior Jillian Willey, junior Tiffany Toney and Gray each popped up. VSU threatened in their half of the seventh, but left two runners on base. Coggins walked in her order of the lineup and Sharron Lipford reached on an error by BSU.
BSU junior Tricia Corbin led off the eighth inning with a bunt single and advanced to second after an error by the VSU catcher. VSU pitcher Kjirsten Beckstead got Enders to fly out to left and sent Hockey to the dugout with a strikeout looking. Makle singled and advanced all the way around to third, scoring Corbin. Senior Bethany Sloat singled, scoring Makle and allowing BSU a 5-3 cushion.
Allmond lined out to center to begin the VSU half of the eighth inning. Beckstead stepped up to the plate and hit a soft line drive to the backhand of Toney that would have scored two. However, Toney, the CIAA Player of the Year, made probably the best athletic play of the championships by snaring Beckstead's liner to end the game. Makle was BSU's top offensive producer, tallying a team-high three hits and a game-high three RBI. The Lady Bulldogs recorded nine hits on the afternoon, but was bitten by the error bug as well, committing four in the game.
VSU defeated Johnson C. Smith, 9-8, in eight innings to advance to the championship game. VSU and BSU are no strangers to championship match-ups as the two met last year with BSU winning, 9-4, to capture its first CIAA softball title in school history.
BSU completed an undefeated run through the bracket by shutting out VSU, 5-0, in the championship game to capture the CIAA Softball Championship for the second consecutive year.
Riding the arms of Enders and Willey, the Lady Bulldogs only allowed VSU two hits in the seven-inning contest. Toney and Makle supplied the necessary offense, going a combined 4 for 7 with three RBI and two runs scored.
After giving up a leadoff double in the top of the first, Enders held the Lady Trojans hitless until Amber Hoop led off the seventh inning with a single. BSU coach Fred Burroughs then brought in Willey, who retired the next three batters to preserve the shutout and championship victory.
BSU gave Enders all the cushion she needed in the first inning. Gray walked to start the inning, followed by a Toney single. Both women scored on Makle's single to take a 2-0 lead. BSU got three more runs in the fourth inning that featured a double by Makle and a triple by Toney.
Four Lady Bulldogs earned spots on the All-Tournament Team. Corbin, Enders, Toney and Makle each earned spots, with Makle also receiving tournament MVP honors.
Basketball
Bowie State University women's basketball coach Doug Robertson has resigned his position to accept the head coaching post at South Carolina State University. South Carolina State, a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, finished the 2007-'08 season in seventh place with a record of 9-7 (13-17 overall).
"Coach Robertson did an outstanding job advancing our women's program," said athletic director Derek Carter. "We wish him much success as he embarks on this newest phase of his coaching career."
During his three years with the Lady Bulldogs program, Robertson compiled a record of 53-33, led BSU to the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Eastern Division title and was named the 2007-'08 CIAA Coach of the Year.
Prior to his stint at BSU, Robertson served as the top assistant for the Delaware State University Lady Hornets (2000-2005) and helped guide them to an 82-64 overall record and three MEAC Championships game appearances in five years.
The Department of Athletics will immediately begin the search for a new head coach of the BSU Lady Bulldogs.
Honors
Bowie State University students Anthony Howe and Jasmine McNair have been selected to take part in the 2008 NCAA National Student-Athlete Development Conference to be held May 25 through 29 at Walt Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Howe and McNair are two of 700 student-athletes selected from 462 institutions within the NCAA to participate in the conference.
Howe is a junior psychology major and is a member of the football team, all the while earning a spot on the Dean's List. McNair is a junior nursing major on the women's volleyball and tennis teams. She is also a member of the Bowie State University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
