Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Virginia Union University's Taylor Hamilton homered three times to lead the Lady Panthers to an 11-1 win over Johnson C. Smith University on the first day of the CIAA Softball Championships, held on Thursday, April 30, in Raleigh, N.C.

Hamilton homered twice in the JCSU game, in the fourth and fifth, accounting for five Lady Panther runs in the game.

VUU opened the scoring by tallying three runs in the second inning on RBI singles by Tyana Daniel and Breana Miller.  

Virginia Union's Shontel Linnette struck out five and allowed just one earned run in the win.

VUU had dropped the opening game 15-5 to Winston-Salem State University despite a grand slam home run by Tyana Daniels and a homer by Hamilton.

The win means VUU will play either Chowan or Winston-Salem State at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 1, in Raleigh, N.C.