BALTIMORE, Md. (April 16, 2016)-The Morgan State softball team returns home this weekend to face Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division leader Delaware State in a three-game series at the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) Dundalk-Softball Field in Dundalk, Md. The Lady Bears and Hornets begin the series with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 16 at 1 p.m. and will conclude the weekend with a single game on Sunday, April 17 at noon.  
 
CCBC Dundalk Softball Field is located at: 7200 Sollers Point Road, Dundalk, MD 21222.
 
This weekend's contests will mark the 102nd through 104th meetings between the two programs, with the Hornets holding a 70-31 all-time series lead. Delaware State has won 13 of the last 16 meetings against Morgan State, including back-to-back series sweeps in 2012 and 2013. Since 2004, the Hornets have a 37-5 record against Morgan State, including 18 straight wins from 2004-2008 and never lost a series to the Lady Bears during that span. During the 2009 season the two squads split the doubleheader to end the series in a tie. Despite multiple tries, the third game was never made up and the Lady Bears were eliminated from the MEAC postseason.
 
The Lady Bears (10-21, 5-3 MEAC), who currently sit in third-place in the MEAC Northern Division, have won five of their last six contests, following last weekend's doubleheader split at second-place Norfolk State. Morgan State won the first game, 9-2, before having its season-long five-game winning streak snapped with a 5-3 loss in Game 2.
 
Morgan State has been paced by junior Audrianna Alvarez, who ranks fifth in the MEAC in batting average (.385), third in on-base percentage (.490), sixth in runs scored (27) and fourth in walks (17). As a team, the Lady Bears sit atop of the conference with Florida A&M in stolen bases with a school record 74. The 74 stolen bases, which surpassed the previous Morgan State record of 65 stolen bases in a season, set by the 1999 team, was broken in the opening game against Norfolk State when Morgan State went 8-for-8 in stolen bases that game. Fellow freshmen Damali Young (22) and Giselle Alvarez (13) lead the team in stolen bases. Sophomore pitcher Amy Begg enters the series with a 7-9 record and is ranked fifth in the MEAC with an ERA of 3.96. Begg, who set a career-high 10 strikeouts this season at UMBC (4/6), also ranks second in the league in strikeouts with 94.
 
Delaware State (17-16, 10-2 MEAC) has won six straight, following last weekend's series sweep of Hampton at home. The victories marked Delaware State's first series sweep over the Lady Pirates since 2012. The Hornets also improved to 8-1 at home this season with the wins and remained atop the MEAC Northern Division.