WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 10, 2021)-Morgan State took to the road for the first time this season for a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division series, as it visited Beltway rival Howard for a doubleheader on Saturday at the Nationals Youth Academy.
 
Morgan State would drop the opener, 5-4 in nine innings to suffer its first MEAC loss of the season. The Lady Bears would then defeat the Bison in Game 2, by a score of 7-2 to earn their first road victory of the season.

The Game 1 loss put an end to any hopes of matching Morgan State's 1998 team, which went undefeated at 16-0 in MEAC action, while setting the school's record for MEAC wins in a season.
 
The Lady Bears improved to 12-8 overall and 9-1 in the MEAC with the split, while Howard fell to 10-11 and 3-7 in the MEAC.
 
Game 1
The opener was a classic case of throw out the records when these two Beltway rivals meet up and just play. Morgan entered the weekend series with a season-best six-game winning streak and an unblemished league record through eight games. On top of that, the Lady Bears had won two straight and five of the past six meetings against the Bison.
 
Howard was on a four-game losing skid and had only managed two wins through its first eight MEAC contests.
 
The Lady Bears took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Damishah Charles singled to left field to score Ellen Ebbers.
 
Howard countered with a run in the second to even the score at 1-1 and then took the lead in the third when Camille Navarro homered to left field to put the host Bison up 2-1.
 
Morgan State went back to work, scoring a run in the fourth on Jalian Young's RBI single down the left field line to even tie the game at 2-2. The Lady Bears reclaimed the lead in the fifth inning at 3-2 when a fielding error at second base, allowed Deborah Hamilton to score.
 
The lead didn't last long for Morgan State, as Howard evened the score at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth when Natalie Davila singled in Kalita Dennis. The score would remain that way through the end of regulation and into extra innings.
 
The guests broke a 3-3 tie when Ebbers doubled to left field in the ninth inning to score Mia Ewell and give the Lady Bears a 4-3 lead.
 
Howard would get the run back in the bottom of the inning and add another to claim the victory. Navarro evened the score at 4-4 when she hit her second homer of the game, this time to left center. The Bison ended the game when Davila singled down the right field line to score Nevaeh Castruita for the game winner.
 
Young went 3-for-4 with an RBI to lead Morgan State, while Charles recorded two hits, a run, RBI and a walk in the loss. Ebber finished 1-for-3 at the plate with a run, RBI and walked twice.
 
Stephanie Rundlett (4-5) gave up two runs on seven hits struck out two batters in four innings of work. Howard's Kiana Carr earned the win and improved to 6-4 on the season. Carr allowed a run on four hits, two walks and had a game-high three strikeouts in 4.2 innings.
 
The Bison, who had 13 hits in the game, were led by Davila, who went 3-for-5 with a run and 2RBI. Navarro finished 2-for-5 with two runs and 2RBI. Dennis and Castruita each went 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored.
 
Game 2
Morgan State would outhit the host Bison, 11-5 in the second game. Katariina Delph, Haylee Bobos and Jalian Young all recorded two hits in the game. Young also finished with a game-high 2RBI.
 
The Lady Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring two runs in the second inning and adding a third in the top of the third.
 
Howard got on the board in the bottom of the third, when Maxie Harrington stole home to cut the Morgan advantage to 3-1. The Lady Bears upped their lead to 4-1 when Sarah Tuzinski singled up the middle to score Delph in the fourth inning. The hosts scored in the bottom half of the inning when Natalie Davila scored on a bases loaded fielder's choice hit by Shayna Swanson to make it a 4-2 game.
 
That was as close as the Bison would get, as Morgan State closed the door with a run in the fifth and two more runs in the sixth for the 7-2 victory.
 
Junior pitcher Mikayla Barnard picked up the win and improved to 7-2 on the season. Barnard, who extended her winning streak to a season-best four straight, went three innings and surrendered two runs on two hits and four walks, while throwing two strikeouts.
 
Howard was led by Davila, who recorded two hits and scored a run.  
 
The two teams will wrap up their four-game series with another doubleheader on Sunday. First pitch is at noon.