BALTIMORE, Md. (Jan. 21, 2020)-Morgan State head softball coach Larry Hineline has announced the Lady Bears' 2020 schedule.
 
The schedule features a 48-game slate, which includes four regular season tournaments, along with an 18-game Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) slate.
 
One significant change to this season's schedule will be league play, as the MEAC has done away with the northern and southern divisions. Instead, the Lady Bears will face six of the conference's 10 teams this season in a three-game series. Two seasons ago Morgan State captured its lone MEAC Northern Division crown and entered the MEAC Championship Tournament as the No. 1 seed out of the North.
 
Morgan State will host 24 games at Lois T. Murray Field. 15 contests will come against non-conference opponents, including the third annual MSU Tournament, as well as two games against fellow MEAC foe, Maryland Eastern Shore, which will not count in the league standings. The remaining nine home games will be against MEAC competition.
 
"This schedule has a great mix of opponents from top conferences and is designed to prepare our team for a competitive MEAC schedule," said Hineline.
 
The 2020 slate gets underway Saturday, Feb. 15-Sunday, Feb. 16, when Morgan State travels to Elon, N.C. to compete in the Elon Tournament. The Lady Bears will face Radford, host Elon and Siena.
 
The Lady Bears head to the Sunshine State to compete in the Diamond 9 Tournament in Orlando, Fla. (Feb. 21-23) for a five-game slate against Stetson, Oakland, Villanova, Troy and Clemson.
 
Morgan State will travel to the Nation's Capital to take part in the Colonial Classic hosted by George Washington (Feb. 29-March 1). While in Washington, D.C., Morgan State will take on Princeton, host George Washington, as well as Georgetown.
 
The Lady Bears make their 2020 home debut March 7-8, when they welcome both Manhattan and Maryland Eastern Shore to Lois T. Murray Field for non-conference action.
 
The following week, Morgan State will host its annual MSU Tournament, which kicks off with the Lady Bears traveling to Towson, Md. to take on the crosstown rival Towson Tigers on Friday, March 13 at 3 p.m. Morgan State has won the last three meetings over the Tigers. The Lady Bears return home on Saturday for a doubleheader against Fairleigh Dickinson at 1 p.m. The tournament wraps up on Sunday with a doubleheader against Colgate starting at 11 a.m.
 
On Wednesday, March 18 Morgan State will welcome Mount St. Mary's for a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
 
The Lady Bears will get a few days off before heading down to the Tidewater area of Virginia to face Norfolk State in the MEAC series opener (March 21-22) in Norfolk, Va. The match-up will feature the last two MEAC Northern Division champions. Last season Morgan State was unable to defend its 2018 crown due to a one-year postseason ban, thus it was ineligible for the regular season title. The Spartans would win two games in the series and went on to claim the 2019 northern division crown.  
 
Morgan State will return home and to non-conference action when it welcomes Rider for a doubleheader (March 25), followed by a three-game series against visiting Cornell (March 31-April 1).
 
The Lady Bears close out their eight-game home stand with their MEAC home opening series against the North Carolina A&T State Lady Aggies (April 4-5).
 
Morgan State continues MEAC play with a series on the road at Delaware State (April 10-11) in Dover, Del., before closing out its non-conference slate for the season with a trip back to Towson on April 15.
 
Beltway rival Howard will visit the Lady Bears for a MEAC series (April 18-19), before the team heads to Daytona Beach, Fla. to face the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman (April 25-26).
 
The 2020 regular season will come to an end with Morgan State hosting crosstown rival Coppin State in the MEAC- and regular-season finale series on Saturday, May 2-Sunday, May 3 at Lois T. Murray Field. The Lady Bears and Eagles will meet for a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. and will wrap up the series on Sunday at noon. Sunday's contest will be Senior Day for Morgan State.
 
The MEAC Softball Championship Tournament will be held Wednesday, May 6-Sunday, May 10 at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex in Ormond Beach, Fla.
 
For complete schedule, click here.