Jordan Eades pitched a one-hitter and had a season-high nine strikeouts, while Taylor McDougall went 2-for-3, including a homerun and 2RBI against Howard.
Box Score
BALTIMORE, Md. (May 1, 2013)-In what was perhaps the wildest non-traditional collegiate softball game ever played at Lois T. Murray Field, Morgan State defeated visiting Howard, 11-0 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) North Division contest on Wednesday night which took 51 minutes to play. With the win, Morgan State swept the season series against the Lady Bison, while recording its first MEAC series sweep of the season.
Wednesday's game, which was a make-up from the team's three-game series two weeks ago that got rained out, was originally scheduled for a 5 p.m. start. However, due to several Howard players having exams and then battling through both the D.C. and Baltimore traffic, Howard did not arrive until shortly before 7:15 p.m.
With just enough time for the Howard players to get off the van and for coaches to exchange lineup cards with the umpires, first pitch was at 7:25 p.m., thus creating the first night game in Morgan State history at Lois T. Murray Field. Only there was one problem, there are no lights on the field, which led to the umpires enforcing a strict up tempo pace on both teams to ensure that five innings were played in order to be an official game.
Morgan State (8-32, 5-10 MEAC) jumped on the Lady Bison early, scoring four runs in the first inning. Senior
Tiffany Rubin, who was playing in her final home game as a Lady Bear, singled through the right side to score
Shareday Christina for the first run.
Kimber Salvas reached on a fielder's choice which scored
Danielle Lugo, giving the hosts a 2-0 lead.
Taylor McDougall then cranked a two-run shot which hit off the playground equipment over the left centerfield fence, extending Morgan's lead to 4-0.
The Lady Bears went back to work in the second inning, this time erupting for six more runs to take a 10-0 advantage. Senior
Shanice Crowder tripled to center field to score Nichole Holguin and later scored when Christina grounded out at second. Salvas later singled through the right side to bring in both Rubin and Lugo for an 8-0 lead.
Kimberly Fontaine would end the scoring for the inning, when she hit a single to right field to score two more runs for a 10-0 advantage.
Lugo, who was the third Morgan State senior playing in her final home game, provided the Lady Bears final run when she grounded out to the pitcher in the third inning to score Christina for the 11th run.
Howard (1-17 MEAC) nearly ruined Morgan's plans of getting the game called after five innings on the eight-run mercy rule, when it had bases loaded in the fourth inning off of three walks. But
Jordan Eades would strikeout Howard's Ashley Turner to end the inning and end any threat.
Eades would pitch a complete game one-hitter, while striking out a season-best nine batters to improve to 5-14 on the season.
Taylor McDougall went 2-for-3, including her second homer of the season and had two runs and 2RBI, while Rubin was 2-for-3 with a run and RBI. Salvas finished with a game-high 3RBI after going 1-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored.
Howard's Al'asia Davis went 1-for-2 in the game and recorded the lone hit of the day for the Lady Bison in the second inning with a double.
Morgan State will close out the season this weekend when it takes on Coppin State in a three-game MEAC series at Coppin State Field. The two will square off in a doubleheader on Saturday, May 4 at 1 p.m. and will close out the series on Sunday with a single game at noon. The winner will secure the fourth and final spot in the north division for next week's conference tournament. Coppin State currently is in the fourth spot a game up on fifth-place Morgan State.
