(Washington, D.C.) – Saturday afternoon on the road, the Delaware State softball team (28-15, 11-3 MEAC) dominated the Howard Bison (4-35, 3-14 MEAC) to come away with a pair of five-inning victories, 10-1 and 11-1.

In game one with DSU already leading by two after the first inning, the Hornets broke the contest open during the third by scoring five runs on four hits and three HU errors, headlined by a Sandy Hawthorne RBI-double to bring in Chloe Oro.

At game's end, the Hornets tallied 12 hits, led by Oro going 3-for-4 and scoring three runs.  In the case of Hawthorne, Jessica Madrid and Rochelle Sablay, they all recorded two hits each.

Pitching wise, freshman Vanessa Ciocatto (10-5) allowed four hits, a walk and fanned two HU batters to pick up the victory.

Game two, meanwhile, the score was knotted at one until the Hornets scored five runs in the fourth, beginning with back-to-back home runs by Sablay (4) and infielder Jordan Stamps (6) to lead off the inning.  Later in the frame, outfielder Nicole Gazzola (1) got in the action with a three-run blast.

In the fifth, the Hornets once again scored five runs, this time with freshman Tara Tursellino (2) getting things started with a two-run homer, followed by infielder Danielle Velez (3) blasting a solo shot.  To put the finishing touches on game two, Oro RBI-doubled to drive in Kaitlyn Slater and Gazzola RBI-singling up the middle to make it a 10-1 ball game.

At the plate, DSU totaled 10 hits, spearheaded by Gazzola going 3-for-3 with four RBI, while pitcher Rachel Meagley (8-5) picked up the win surrendering four hits, a walk, no earned runs and tallying a game-high two strikeouts.

Tomorrow, the Columbia Blue & Red will aim for the series sweep over the Bison at 1 p.m.