FINAL SCORE
North Carolina A&T (11-25, 5-7 CAA) – 7
Monmouth (6-25, 5-10 CAA) – 2  
 
WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – The North Carolina A&T Aggies defeated the Monmouth University softball team, 7-2, in the rubber match of a three-game series at MU Softball Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Hawks dropped their second straight despite a gritty pitching outing by Billie Kerwood, who struck out nine A&T hitters over 6+ innings of work. The highlight of the sophomore righty's day came when she struck out five consecutive hitters in the fifth and sixth innings. In the process, she struck out her 100^th batter of 2023.

The Aggies got on the board in the first via an RBI groundout, but the Hawks responded with the tying run in the bottom of the second. After a two-run homer by A&T in the top of the third, junior Devin Coia (1-for-3) remained hot with an RBI double down the right field line, scoring Eve Serrato (2-for-4, 2B, R), who also doubled earlier in the frame, and cut the deficit to one.

That was closest the Hawks would get for the remainder of the game. The Aggies answered with an RBI single in the fourth and later tacked on three insurance runs in the seventh to win the ballgame, 7-2, and the series, 2-1.

NOTES & NUMBERS
- Billie Kerwood has reached triple digits in strikeouts (105) on the season.
- Eve Serrato recorded her fifth multi-hit game of 2023.
- Devin Coia extended her hit streak to seven games.
- Coia leads the team with a .305 batting average.
- A&T outhit the Hawks, 8-5.
- Both teams worked three walks at the plate.
- Monmouth left seven runners on base, while NC A&T left four.
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks will make up a contest at Rider on Thursday, April 13, at 3 pm. The game was originally scheduled for mid-March.