The Shaw softball team swept all three games at today's CIAA Roundup, beating Virginia Union, Lincoln and Bowie State in matches played at Arnette Park and hosted by Fayetteville State Thursday.

The Lady Bears opened the day by downing Virginia Union 10-7 in the morning.  That afternoon, they first defeated Lincoln (PA) 9-5 before closing out the day with a 5-4 victory over Bowie State.

Jamel Manley was the star for Shaw, collecting seven hits in 12 at bats, including three home runs and one double.  She drove in five runs and scored seven.  Erica Lafrades also had a stellar day, going 6-for-11 with six runs and two RBI.  Cortnee Kelly had five hits, drove in five and scored five.

In the first game of the day, Shaw gave up an early run to Virginia Union, but answered with four runs in the bottom of the first, keyed by three straight singles from Lafrades, Manley and Shanice Anderson.  Sheniqua Fahie collected a hit of her own, and all four scored to give the Lady Bears the 4-1 lead.

Virginia Union battled back in the top of the third, scoring four runs of their own to capture a 5-1 lead.  The Lady Bears took advantage of a key error to score three unearned runs.  Kelly earned two of her RBI in the inning, driving home Lafrades and Manley with two outs.

The Lady Panthers scored another run in the top of the sixth, but Shaw answered with three, with Kemesha Braithewaite, Lafrades and Manley - Lafrades and Manley on Manley's first home run of the day.

Union would add another run in the top of the seventh, but could not threaten the Shaw lead as the Lady Bears earned the 10-7 win.

In the second game of the day, Lincoln took a one-run lead when the leadoff hitter, Emily Woodruff, walked and eventually made it home.

In the bottom of the second, Kelly led off with a base hit to second, advanced to second on Fahie's hit to shortstop and scored on Gina Yozzo's single up the middle.  Renee Holmes sacrificed Fahie home to give Shaw the 2-1 lead.

The Lady Bears got another shot in the arm from the top of their order in the bottom of the third when Lafrades led off with a single, followed by Manley's single.  Kelly's single plated Lafrades while Manley came home on Fahie's sacrifice to left field.  Yozzo knocked in Kelly on a single to left field, giving the Lady Bears the 5-1 lead.

Lincoln narrowed the margin in the fourth by scoring three runs, including a home run by Jasmine Dabney, to make the score 5-4, Shaw.

The Lady Bears got another run off a solo homer from Manley in the fifth to give them a 6-4 lead.  Lincoln managed another run in the top of the sixth, but the Lady Bears put the game out of reach with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, including another Manley home run, to make the final score 9-5.

In the final competition of the day, Shaw scored an unearned run in the top of the first, but their lead was short lived as Bowie responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth, including a bases-clearing triple by Erica Atkins, to give the Lady Bulldogs a 4-1 lead.

Shaw tied the game in the top of the third when Lafrades, Manley and Anderson each reached base - with both Manley and Anderson coming home on an error by the BSU catcher.

With pitcher Yozzo shutting down the Lady Bulldogs after the first inning, Shaw needed only one more run to earn the victory.  They got it in the top of the fourth when Renee Holmes doubled to left center, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored when the BSU catched dropped a third strike, allowing the runners to advance.

Both teams were shut down the rest of the way, giving Shaw the 5-4 win.  With the win, Shaw improves to 9-17 on the season, and evens their conference mark at 4-4.

The Lady Bears return to action Friday when they return to Fayetteville for a rematch with Lincoln at 10 a.m. followed by a non-conference game against Fayetteville State.