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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 11, 2016)-When the Morgan State Lady Bears' softball team takes the field against Savannah State in Thursday's opening round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Softball Championships, it will mark the return of Morgan State in the league's postseason tournament after a five-year hiatus.
 
First pitch between the fourth-seeded Lady Bears (13-26) out of the MEAC Northern Division and the top-seeded Savannah State Lady Tigers (24-21) out of the MEAC Southern Division is slated for 10 a.m. at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex in Ormond Beach, Fla. The winner will move on to face the winner of Florida A&M and Hampton at 7 p.m. on Thursday, while the loser faces the loser of the FAMU-Hampton contest at 4:30 p.m.
 
2011 was the last time the Lady Bears qualified for the championship, as that squad finished second in the MEAC Northern Division and ended a three-year postseason drought.
 
The average cost for a loaf of bread in 2011 was $1.08 and the average cost of regular gas on the East Coast was $3.93, up $1.07 from the previous year.  Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Fast Five, The Hangover Part II and Cars 2 were some of the top movies that year. NBC Sunday Night Football, American Idol and The Voice were the top three most popular TV shows. Amazon's Kindle Fire was the most popular Christmas gift and actor Charlie Sheen's "I'm a winner" quote was born.
 
Five years later, the Morgan State Lady Bears are back in the MEAC softball championship tournament, following a two-run homer hit by junior Kate Vosper in the bottom of the seventh inning to defeat crosstown rival Coppin State (April 30) by a score of 6-5 in the final weekend of the regular season.
 
"It's interesting the girls that helped lead the way are girls that been here a few years," said second-year Morgan State head coach Larry Hineline on the Lady Bears' return to the league tournament. "My hat's off to them for staying the course and trying their best. If you look at the players we have starting, they're from the senior and junior class. So it's good for them. I'm happy for them."
 
Vosper's shot not only secured Morgan State's spot in the championship, but also returned the favor of eliminating Coppin State from the postseason. The Lady Eagles had been responsible for eliminating Morgan State in the final weekend of the season in each of the previous four years.
 
"I knew it was gone," said Hineline, who was also the head coach at Coppin State for six years, before coming to Morgan State. "It had that good look, it got real high and real fast. Having coached at Coppin, I know the look of the balls that leave that park. I lost it at that point. I knew it was going to carry because it had great backspin on it. It was a great feeling."
 
Savannah State, which captured the southern division title with a 12-2 mark, had seven athletes named to the All-MEAC Teams, more than any other team in the conference. Senior Torrian Wright was named the MEAC Player of the Year for the third consecutive season, while freshman Cortni Jones was named MEAC Rookie of the Year. Joining both Wright and Jones on the first-team was junior pitcher Amanda Hallman.
 
The Lady Tigers would place two (Alexis Singleton and Tia Bolden) on the All-MEAC second team and two more (Brianna Harris and Kasie Johnson) on the third-team.
 
As a team, the Lady Tigers are hitting .319 with 237 runs scored, 63 doubles, 12 triples, 21 home runs and 205 RBIs with a .446 slugging percentage. Savannah State's batting average ranks second in the MEAC and 32^nd in the NCAA.
 
On the mound, Johnson leads the squad with a 2.70 ERA with a 5-2 record with two complete games. Hallman brings a 13-10 record with a 3.65 ERA with 14 complete games in 144 inning pitched and 119 strikeouts.
 
Morgan State, winners of three of their last five games and eight of the final 14, enters the contest as the fourth-seed from the northern division, following an 8-8 league mark. The Lady Bears have been paced by junior Audrianna Alvarez, who leads the team with a .370 batting average with 22 RBIs, 37 hits, seven doubles, 26 runs scored, four homeruns and 21 walks.
 
Freshman Damali Young is batting .322 with a team-best 32 runs scored and 39 hits to go with six doubles, a team-high three triples, a home run, 7 RBIs and 13 walks. Young also leads the team in stolen bases, after setting the school's singles-season record with 29, which also ranks 16^th in the NCAA.
 
The Lady Bears have been led by pitcher Amy Begg, who brings an 8-13 overall record with 10 complete games in 28 appearances. Begg has pitched 132.2 innings and has tallied 119 strikeouts.
 
Despite playing in the MEAC championships being a first-time experience for every member of the Lady Bears, Coach Hineline likes Morgan State's chances.
  
"We're not a good come-from-behind team even though we have," said Hineline. "We have good pitching and as good of pitching as anyone here. If it holds true, if they keep us in the game we could do well. You get that first game under your belt, I could see us going far or even winning it. But we can't get in a hole early. I don't think we have the guns to get out of that yet, but we certainly could win it all without a doubt."