NORFOLK, Va. (May 13, 2021)-Playing in their first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Softball Championship since the 2018 season, the top-seeded Lady Bears returned to the tournament and defeated North Carolina Central (NCCU), 4-3 in the opening round on Thursday afternoon at NSU Softball Field.
 
Morgan State graduate pitcher Stephanie Rundlett (10-7) struck out a game-high five batters in 4.1 innings of work to earn her 40^th career victory. Offensively, Haylee Bobos hit two homers to drive in three runs and Melissa Paz, who picked up her third save of the season in relief, also homered to account for the Lady Bears' scoring.  
 
The Lady Bears will now face Norfolk State on Friday at 12 p.m. with the winner advancing to Saturday's championship. The host Spartans put a 17-3 thumping in five innings on Southern Division top seed, North Carolina A&T earlier in the day.
 
State rivals NCCU and N.C. A&T will meet on Friday at 3 p.m. in an elimination game.
 
Morgan State (22-15) improved to 2-1 all-time against NCCU in MEAC Tournament action. The victory was the first opening round win for the Lady Bears since that 2018 campaign. Morgan State was the squad also entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed in the MEAC Northern Division and knocked off NCCU in the opening round.
 
With two down in the bottom of the first, Bobos homered to right center to score Aliya Ewell and give the Lady Bears a 2-0 lead.
 
NCCU (11-30) cut the Morgan lead in half in the third inning when freshman Hailey Batista flied out to left center to score Tamiera Sanchez and make it a 2-1 game.
 

The score would stay that way until the bottom of the sixth inning when Bobos hit her second homerun of the game and fourth on the season, this time to left field, increasing the lead to 3-1. Morgan State was not done, as Paz stepped to the plate and matched Bobos with a homer of her own to left center, providing back-to-back homeruns for the Lady Bears to extend the lead to 4-1. It was also the first homer of the season for Paz.
 
The Eagles would make it interesting in the top of the seventh, scoring two runs with two outs. Batista doubled to right center, scoring Sanchez and Nadia Blevins to cut Morgan State's lead to just a run at 4-3.
 
Morgan State intentionally walked Joirea Dumas, putting runners at first and second for NCCU with two outs. Paz then got Jaylah Barr to fly out to center field to end the game.
 
Eagles' pitcher Kiara Hurley (7-17) was charged with the loss. Hurley pitched a complete game and recorded three strikeouts.
 
The Lady Bears and Eagles each tallied seven hits for the game. NCCU ended the game leaving six on base, while Morgan State left five.
 
Batista went 1-for-3 with a game-high three RBIs and Imara Harrell finished 2-for-3 to lead the Eagles.
 
Bobos led Morgan State with her 2-for-3 outing at the plate with two runs and a game-high three RBIs. Paz finished 1-for-3 with a run and RBI. Ewell was 1-for-3 with a run, while Meikel Turner, Jalian Young each added a hit.

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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.