SUMMARY
The University of Maryland Eastern Shore softball team defeated North Carolina Central 9–3 on Sunday afternoon to close out its first conference series sweep of the season.

Kinsey Mentzer and Lola Meyer each plated two RBIs in the victory. Chloe Weber pitched a complete game, her third of the season, to secure the win.

THE SCORE
Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (13–30, 5–13 MEAC) — 9
North Carolina Central Eagles (7–36, 5–13 MEAC) — 3

HOW IT HAPPENED
UMES jumped on North Carolina Central with five combined runs in the first two innings to take early control.
Jada Lacey doubled to right-center and Skylar Skinner singled, scoring Lacey to give the Hawks an early 1–0 lead.

The Hawks scored four runs in the second inning. Paris Richards worked a walk and Emily Gunther singled to right field. Araceli Manzo reached on a fielder's choice with Gunther out at second and Richards on third. In a double steal, Manzo moved to second and Richards swiped home to make it 2–0. Manzo stole third, Chloe Weber worked a walk and with one out, Kinsey Mentzer tripled to left-center, scoring Weber and Manzo to make it 4–0. Jada Lacey reached on a fielder's choice and scored Mentzer to push the Hawks' lead to 5–0.

UMES added an insurance run in the fourth inning. Calvin doubled before Lacey singled to right field with two outs. Lacey advanced to second on an error by the Eagles, scoring Calvin rounding third to extend the
lead to 6–0.

Chloe Weber pitched five shutout innings until North Carolina Central plated three runs in the sixth on two hits.

UMES matched North Carolina Central's three runs in the seventh inning. Calvin doubled to left-center and Kinsey Mentzer reached on an error. Lacey reached on a fielder's choice and traveled to third after Calvin was forced out at second. An error by the Eagles scored Mentzer and cleared the bases to make it 7–3. Skinner was walked and stole second before Lola Meyer singled up the middle, advancing to second and scoring both Skinner and Lacey to pull away by six.

Weber retired the side with two groundouts and a flyout to seal the Hawks' series sweep over North Carolina Central.

BY THE NUMBERS
The Hawks' last conference series sweep came on April 7, 2023 against Coppin State.

Clarke Calvin's two doubles improve her season total to six and mark the first time this season she has recorded multiple doubles in a game.

Kinsey Mentzer's RBI triple in the second inning was her first triple of the season. She now has 10 RBIs on the year.

Lola Meyer's two-RBI day is her fifth game of the season with multiple RBIs and her 18th RBI of the season.

To close the series, UMES' pitching staff tossed complete games in all three wins. Paris Richards pitched in Game 1, Dani Brown in Game 2 and Chloe Weber in Game 3.

COMMENTS FROM HEAD COACH AARON ROBINSON

Thoughts on the series seep over NC Central
Different energy. We made sure to let them know before the sweep that if we go get these three, and then go get the three next weekend, we put ourselves in a position to make it. We don't want to leave anything to chance — you know, ties and what that comes down to. I've been there, felt that before. That's not a fun, anxiety-ridden process. So we had to relax, seize the moment, understand what was in front of us, and just try some different things. We stayed with the nine or ten that were on the field for the most part — had a couple of pinch hitters and pinch runners — but we just stuck with them. Let's ride them out together, put our best foot forward, and see what we can do. 

On the UMES pitching rotation 
We've been mixing things up and throwing different arms, but I think they've truly settled in now. This is our time — we're peaking during the season. When you start, you never know when that peak is going to come. I hoped it would be right around the start of conference play, and it's right now. We're riding it out to the end, going to the MAC, and being on top of the world.
It started last week with how we played South Carolina State. There were some opportunities there, and we executed on them this week, which allowed our pitchers to get what they needed to get done. Chloe closed out Sunday of last weekend with a shutout, so I knew we were building toward having them throw as long as they could — full seven innings. We trusted them, they trusted themselves, and we got it done.

On the Hawks offense 
Coming off the GW series, and then winning against South Carolina State and going back to GW — we realized more and more that we are in control of what we do. We left some runners on base and knew there were opportunities we weren't capitalizing on. I think they started to see those opportunities, jumped on things early, and got comfortable — just let it go and didn't stop until someone stopped us.
That really happened in the first game when we bounced back and put six runs on the board. We scored in pretty much every inning this whole weekend except maybe four. It was a big change — trusting themselves offensively, getting on base, opening up the running game, and putting the bunts down too. Just focusing on different things and being very intentional.

On the next steps as UMES begin to close its 2026 season 
Kind of the same as what we did this weekend — really intentional, not giving them a lot of time to stop and overthink or focus on the wrong things. We're going to hit a lot, defend a lot. We have a doubleheader opportunity, so that'll keep us sharp. We'll go out and take care of business against Lincoln, then let that energy transfer into the weekend. In between, we'll give them some time to heal and bounce back — ice baths, letting them have a say in what their bodies need over a day or two during the week — so they feel their best going into the weekend. 

NEXT UP
UMES softball will be back in action on Wednesday, April 22, for a doubleheader with Lincoln (Pa.) at 1 and 3 p.m.