Morales slam
William Carson
Anissa Morales hit her first career grand slam.
0
Maryland E. Shore MDESSB 4-32, 1-13 MEAC
5
Winner Morgan State MSUSB 25-14, 13-2 MEAC
Maryland E. Shore MDESSB
4-32, 1-13 MEAC
0
Final
5
Morgan State MSUSB
25-14, 13-2 MEAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Maryland E. Shore MDESSB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
Morgan State MSUSB 4 0 1 0 0 0 X 5 4 1

W: Begg, Amy (13-6) L: GOODMAN,Nasya (4-15)

Game Recap: Softball | | Kevin C. Paige, MSU Athletic Communications

Softball Completes Sweep Of Hawks; Ties School Record With 25th Win

Morales Hits First Career Grand Slam; Begg Takes No-Hitter Into Sixth Inning

BALTIMORE, Md. (April 22, 2018)-20 years ago the 1998 Lady Bears' softball team, playing in just their fifth year of existence as a NCAA Division I program, set the school record for both wins and least losses with a 25-9 mark.

Sunday afternoon, the 2018 Lady Bears' squad tied the school record for wins (25) with a 5-0 victory over the Maryland Eastern Shore (MDES) Hawks at Lois T. Murray Field. The win was the Lady Bears' fourth straight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division series sweep of the year.

"I didn't know what the school record it was. I knew we were close, but we weren't focused on it," said Morgan State head coach Larry Hineline. "We're focused on the league and our league performance and if that comes with wins that exceeded the previous record, so be it. But we didn't focus on it at all."

While the coaching staff may not have focused on or discussed tying and possibly setting the school record for wins, the team was well aware of it. Last season the Lady Bears won the second game of a doubleheader at Coppin State (April 29) to pick up their 23rd win of the season to move two wins closer to tying the school mark. However, Morgan State would not win another game, dropping its remaining eight games.

"Breaking the school record for wins has been talked about amongst the team because we [came close] last year and this year we wanted to break it, which we're about to do," said Morgan State senior pitcher Amy Begg.

Morgan State (25-14, 13-2 MEAC) winners of 15 of its last 16 games, did its damage in the first inning when Anissa Morales (2-for-3, HR, 4RBI, 2 runs) stepped to the plate with bases loaded and hit a grand slam to center field, giving the hosts a quick 4-0 lead.

"Right when the ball connected, I knew it was going to be an RBI. Homerun wasn't even in my mind until I looked up," said Morales of her first-ever grand slam on any level. "This was my first grand slam…Best feeling by far."

The Lady Bears' lead would hold up until the third inning when Morales scored from third on a passed ball to make it a 5-0 Morgan State lead.

Begg, the reigning MEAC Pitcher of the Year, carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning with two outs when MDES's Mackenzie Brown singled to short to break up the no-hitter bid.

The Hawks (4-32, 1-14 MEAC) would add their second and final hit of the game when Heidi Smith singled through the left side in the seventh. Nasya Goodman would walk and Smith then stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error. Begg, then struck out Allison Gingrich to end the game.

Begg, who improved to 13-6 on the season, entered the contest already owing four Morgan State pitching records (career shutouts, innings pitched, strikeouts and wins), all of which she set this season. She would add a fifth record today, becoming Morgan State's all-time leader in appearances. Begg would make her 114th career appearance on the mound, while also collecting her career-leading 13th shutout victory.

"The school wins (pitching) record means the most to me because that means we are winning," said Begg of all the career pitching records she's broken. "Getting a win means the team has gotten a win, which is the most important thing."

Begg finished the game throwing seven strikeouts, while allowing two hits and two walks in seven scoreless innings of work. To date, Begg increased her MSU record setting career marks: in wins (49), appearances (114), innings (582.3), strikeouts (457) and shutouts (13).

Morgan State will now get ready for its MEAC series finale next weekend against crosstown rival Coppin State (April 28-29). The series will mark the first time the Lady Bears will host Coppin State at Lois T. Murray Field since 2014.

The Lady Bears will look to set the school record for victories in a season next weekend, while also attempting to tie another school record set by the 1998 team. Morgan State needs one more win to set the school record, while a sweep would give the Lady Bears 16 MEAC victories, matching that of the 1998 team (16-0) for the most conference wins ever.

"It's great we tied up the wins record, but we will break it because that's what we do," said Morales on finally tying the school record after chasing it for two seasons and a chance to break it. "As a team, we go into games thinking about the right now and go hard. We just go out and do what we do best as one."  

The Lady Bears and Coppin State will get underway with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m. and will close out the series with a single game on Sunday at noon. Sunday's contest will also be 'Senior Day' for three Lady Bears (Amy Begg, Anissa Morales, Danielle Pitpit), who will play in their final home game at Morgan State.

"Four straight sweeps is huge and it would be the icing on the cake to sweep Coppin, especially because that will mean that we've broken the school wins record," said Begg. "It would be pretty special to do that for senior weekend as well."
 
 
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