PRINCESS ANNE, Md. (April 23, 2017)-Audrianna Alvarez went 3-for-4 at the plate, Damali Young was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and Kate Vosper blasted a two-run homer, as the Lady Bears completed a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference series sweep of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore with a 5-0 win at Hawk Field.
The contest marked Senior Day at Maryland Eastern Shore for the Lady Hawks' lone senior, Allison Anderson. The Shore also honored Morgan's seniors prior to the start of the game.
Morgan State, which also won Saturday's doubleheader 5-4 in 11 innings and 10-0 in five innings, improved to 22-14 overall, 11-1 in the MEAC with today's win. The weekend sweep keeps the Lady Bears tied with Hampton atop the MEAC Northern Division standings.
It's also the first time a Morgan State softball team has won 20-plus games in nearly 20 years. The Lady Bears are now four wins shy of breaking the school record of 25 wins.
MDES, which has dropped its last nine straight, fell to 10-23, 4-11 in the MEAC with the loss. The Lady Hawks now fall to fifth-place in the league standings heading into its MEAC series finale this weekend at Howard.
The Lady Bears got on the board first when Young scored on an RBI ground out hit by Korynna Lara to give the guests a 1-0 lead.
Young scored her second run of the game in the third inning when she scored off of Alvarez's RBI single to center field, making it a 2-0 Morgan State advantage.
The guests added to their lead with another run in the fourth inning when Stormy Zyzyk doubled to left field to score Anissa Morales and put the Lady Bears up 3-0.
The Lady Bears put the game out of reach in the fifth inning when Vosper homered to left field, allowing Young to score her third run of the day and give the visitors a 5-0 cushion.
Morgan State pitcher Amy Begg, who limited the Lady Hawks to no runs on three hits for the entire game, held the hosts without a hit for the final three innings to preserve the win.
Begg would improve to a MEAC leading 19-7 on the season, and added three more strikeouts to increase her MEAC-leading total to 149.
Young added two more stolen bases to give her a season-best and MEAC-best 40 steals for the year. Young, who has 70 steals for her career, now needs nine more steals to become the school's all-time leader.
Morgan State, which has gone 5-3 during its current 13-game stretch away from home, will visit rival Coppin State for a three-game MEAC series next weekend. The series gets underway with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 29 beginning at 1 p.m. and wraps up with a single game at noon on Sunday. It will be the final home contests of the regular season for the Eagles. All three games will be played at Coppin State Field.
