PETERSBURG, VA – A huge fifth inning propelled Winston-Salem State University to a 5-3 victory over Chowan University in the semifinals of the 2011 CIAA Softball Tournament.  The Hawks (33-18) will face Virginia State University later today at 5:30pm to see who will advance to the championship round.  Winston-Salem State advances to the championship round to be played tomorrow, April 23^rd.

Tricia Gorman drove in Allie Kolezynski with a single in the top of the first inning to give the Hawks an early 1-0 lead.  The Lady Rams answered in the second inning with a run to knot the score at one run apiece.  Kolezynski again scored in the third inning off a Liz Hipple double.

Heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, Chowan maintained a 2-1 advantage.  In that frame, however, Winston-Salem State (28-11) put up four runs to take a 5-2 lead.  A Britney Cato double drove in three runs for the Lady Rams in the inning.

Mindy Byrd brought the Hawks back in the game in the seventh when she scored off an Allie Kolezynski single, but Chowan could not produce any more offense in the inning.  Kolezynski finished the game going 2-3 from the plate, scoring two runs and driving in one run.

Christie Wright pitched 6.0 innings, suffering the loss.  She struck out one batter, and allowed just one earned run off seven hits.