ORANGEBURG, S.C. (April 16, 2021)-Thursday marked the revival of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) softball round-up, which puts the league's northern division against the southern division. The event had been in hiatus since the 2007 season.
 
Morgan State's return to the MEAC's mid-season event put the MEAC Northern Division leaders against North Carolina A&T State, the MEAC Southern Division leader in the opener for both teams and resulted in the Lady Aggies claiming a 7-4 victory at the Orangeburg Recreation Park.
 
The Lady Bears, who have now dropped three straight, fell to 13-10 overall and 10-3 in the MEAC, while N.C. A&T improved to 8-20, 8-1 in the MEAC.
 
Morgan State and A&T last met in the 2015 season opener in Greensboro, N.C. The Lady Aggies would hand Morgan a 17-11 loss in the opener of the N.C. A&T Aggie Invitational (2/14).
 
The two were scheduled to meet this season (February 28) in Greensboro, N.C., but the doubleheader was canceled. Last season they were to play a doubleheader in Baltimore on April 4-5, which was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
Meeting for the first time in six seasons, A&T jumped on the Lady Bears with two runs in the bottom of the first inning when Desttany Parker doubled down the right field line to score two runs.
 
Morgan State chipped away with a run in the second when Sarah Tuzinski singled to score Meikel Turner and then added a run in the third on a RBI single hit up the middle by Aliya Ewell to score Mia Ewell to even the score at 2-2.
 
The score remained that way until the sixth inning when the Lady Bears took their first lead of the game on a sac bunt by Turner, which allowed Aliya Ewell to score, giving Morgan State a 3-2 advantage.
 
The lead was short lived, as A&T responded in the bottom half of the inning with five runs to take a 7-3 lead. The Lady Aggies tied the score at 3-3 on a fielding error and then reclaimed the lead when Alyxx Estrada flied out to left field to score Dominique Varela. A two-out fielding error plated the third run of the inning for N.C. A&T and allowed the inning to continue. Jocelyn Bennett then delivered a two-run single up the middle to give the Lady Aggies the 7-3 cushion.
 
The Lady Bears pulled within 7-4 when Deborah Hamilton scored on a wild pitch in the top of the seventh, however that was as close as Morgan would get.
 
Morgan State, which had six hits in the game, was led by Tuzinski, who went 2-for-2 with a RBI and a walk. Aliya Ewell was 2-for-3 at the plate with a run and RBI, while Turner finished 1-for-2 with a run and RBI. Mia Ewell also recorded a hit and scored a run.
 
Stephanie Rundlett (5-6) pitched five innings and threw a game-high five strikeouts in the loss.
 
Next up for the Lady Bears will be an 11 a.m. contest on Saturday against host South Carolina State. Morgan State and the Lady Bulldogs last met on March 13, 2019 in Baltimore with the host Lady Bears sweeping the doubleheader by identical 12-4 scores in five innings.

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ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering more than 126 academic programs leading to degrees from the baccalaureate to the doctorate. As Maryland's Preeminent Public Urban Research University, and the only university to have its entire campus designated as a National Treasure by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Morgan serves a multiethnic and multiracial student body and seeks to ensure that the doors of higher education are opened as wide as possible to as many as possible. For more information about Morgan State University, visit www.morgan.edu.