BALTIMORE, Md. (May 1, 2016)-For a college student-athlete in the midst of their final season, Senior Day is almost as important of an event as graduation. While it's the culmination of one's collegiate career, there are numerous emotions involved when putting on the home uniform one last time.

In many instances Senior Day means the final opportunity to play in front of family and friends and in some cases, the only time parents and family members will ever get to witness their loved ones play their respective collegiate sport.

Unfortunately, for Morgan State's four softball seniors (Kimberly Fontaine, Nicole Holguin, Nicole Vandenberg and Kimber Salvas) they didn't get the chance to play in their final home game on Sunday evening with their teammates and in front of their family and friends.
 
If having to play your final home weekend series against your crosstown rival at their place wasn't bad enough, all those memories that come with playing one last home contest would be taken away too, when Coppin State's head coach seemingly ordered his team off the field and called off the game.
 
The third and final game of the series at Coppin State Field, which was originally scheduled for a 12 p.m. start time, was pushed back to 4 p.m. due to the rain in the area. Around 3 p.m., the game was first called off. After discussions between the two head coaches and the umpires, Coppin State players were called back to the field to remove the tarp off the field to see the conditions underneath. Once the tarp was up, a dry and playable infield surface appeared. The water on the tarp from all the rain from the night before and throughout the day went into the outfield once the tarp was removed and some settled into a divot near right centerfield.
 
As Morgan State's coaching staff began working on removing the water from that area, that's when all of a sudden the game was called off and Coppin State players were ordered by their coach that they were leaving.

As of now the game has been ruled as canceled by the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) until further notice. No make-up date is in the works at this time.

The Lady Bears (13-26, 8-8 MEAC) are scheduled to play at Norfolk State on Saturday, May 7 in a make-up game, but there's been no official word on if that game will still be played. The game will no longer make a difference in the standings. Norfolk State wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the MEAC Northern Division over the weekend, while Morgan State secured the No. 4 seed in next week's MEAC Softball Tournament in Ormond Beach, Fla. (May 12-14), following their Game 1 victory over Coppin State on Saturday.
 
Entering Saturday's doubleheader, Morgan State needed just one win over Coppin State in order to advance to the league tournament, while Coppin State needed to sweep the Lady Bears to hold the tiebreaker and advance. For five consecutive seasons it has come down to the regular season finale between the two programs to see who would secure the final spot. Coppin State would come out on top in each of the previous four seasons.
 
Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out and two strikes, junior Kate Vosper delivered a two-run shot over the left field fence to give the Lady Bears a 6-5 come-from-behind win to defeat Coppin State in Game 1. Vosper's homerun would send Morgan State's seniors to the MEAC Tournament for the first time in their careers, while at the same time eliminating Coppin State for a change and sending the Lady Bears' program back to the tournament for the first time since 2011, thus ending the five-year drought.
 
The Lady Eagles (5-31, 5-12 MEAC) would claim victory in Game 2 by a score of 8-4, but the damage had already been done with Morgan's victory earlier in the day.
 
Following Sunday's game cancellation, the Lady Bears returned home, where they had their senior day festivities and dinner inside Hill Field House and sent their seniors out in style. Each senior was presented with their own large framed action photo, framed jersey with name on the back, balloons, a bouquet of flowers, and a gift basket full of other gifts, capped off with music and a smorgasbord fit for a group on its way to the league tournament.  
 
The 2016 MEAC Softball Championship Tournament takes place Thursday, May 12-Saturday, May 14 at Ormond Beach Sports Complex in Ormond Beach, Fla. The Lady Bears will face the Savannah State Lady Tigers (24-21, 12-2 MEAC), the top-seed out of the MEAC Southern Division in the tournament opener on Thursday. The time has yet to be determined.