NORFOLK, Va. (May 14, 2021)-The Morgan State Lady Bears ended a 22-year old drought on Friday afternoon with its 3-2 win over host Norfolk State on Day 2 of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Softball Championship at NSU Softball Field.
 
With the win, the Lady Bears advanced to the program's second MEAC championship game and the first since 1999. The Lady Bears will take on North Carolina Central for the 2021 title. The second-seeded Eagles out of the MEAC Southern Division reached the title game after eliminating rival and top-seed, North Carolina A&T, 6-3 in the first elimination game of the day and then took out host Norfolk State, 5-2 in the second elimination game.
 
Saturday's championship takes place at 12 p.m. at NSU Softball Field and will be steamed live on FloSoftball.com.
 
Friday's victory over the host Spartans was the fifth win in as many tries this season over Norfolk State.   
 
Morgan State (23-15) plated the first run of the game in the first inning when Ellen Ebbers doubled to left center to score Sarah Tuzinski for the 1-0 lead.
 
Norfolk State (20-18) appeared to have tied the game up at a run apiece in the top of the third inning and was looking to do further damage with no outs. But the Spartans would come away empty on a bizarre sequence.
 
With bases loaded and no outs, Brook Bond hit an infield fly to right center, which was caught by Tuzinski at second base, to score Jazzmaine Hammond. Imani Moore, would be thrown out at second, despite initially being called save. Once the dust settled, Imani would indeed be ruled out at third and after Morgan State head coach Larry Hineline appealed the run by Hammond, it was determined that Hammond left the base early and the run was taken off the board and the Lady Bears had recorded three outs all on the play to get out the inning.
 
Morgan State took advantage, as Aliya Ewell hit a triple down the right field line and later scored on a wild pitch to give the Lady Bears a 2-0 lead.
 
The Spartans cut the lead in half in the fourth, when Alison Guckin scored on an RBI single hit up the middle by Jade Dixon.
 
Morgan State got the run back in the bottom half of the inning when Katariina Delph doubled ro right to score Jalian Young for a 3-1 Morgan State advantage.
 
Bond would homer with in the top of the fifth with two outs to bring the Spartans within a run at 3-2, for what would be the final run of the contest.
 
Stephanie Rundlett pitched 3 1/3 innings of relief and got the win to improve to 11-7 on the season. Starting pitcher Mikayla Barnard went 3 2/3 innings and threw three strikeouts, as did Rundlett.
 
Norfolk State's Cam Anderson (7-5) had a game-high seven strikeouts in the loss.
 
Jalian Young went 2-for-3 with a run to lead Morgan State. Ebbers and Delph each had a hit and a RBI, while Haylee Bobos drew a game-high two walks.
 
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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.