Game 40
NCAA Softball Championship – Norman Regional
Morgan State (24-15, 14-5 MEAC) at No. 1 Oklahoma (45-2, 16-1 Big 12)
Friday, May 21, 2021 | 8:30 p.m. ET
Norman, Okla. (Marita Hynes Field)
Websites: www.morganstatebears.com | www.soonersports.com
Watch: ESPN3 | Liive stats
Tournament Central | Game Notes: Morgan State | Oklahoma 
 
NORMAN, Okla. (May 20, 2021)-The Morgan State softball team will make their NCAA Softball Championship debut this Friday night, when the Lady Bears take on Oklahoma, the overall No. 1 seed in the opening round of the tournament. First pitch is slated for 8:30 p.m. ET at Marita Hynes Field on ESPN3. Joining Morgan State in the Norman Regional (May 21-23) will be Wichita State and Texas A&M, who will square off in Friday's first game at 6 p.m.
 
BEAR CLAWS: The Lady Bears (24-15), winners of nine of their last 11 games, are making their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Softball Championships. Morgan State, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division and Tournament champions, are coming off a 10-5 victory over North Carolina Central (5/15) in the title game. The win gave the program its first MEAC softball championship in school history in two tries. Morgan State last advanced to the MEAC title game in 1999.
 
DÉJÀ VU: The Morgan State softball team, which is making the program's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division I Softball Championship, received a match-up against the No. 1 overall seed, Oklahoma Sooners as its reward. 12 years ago, the Morgan State men's basketball team made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament and also faced Oklahoma (3/19/09) in the first round which was a No. 2 seed.
 
LADY BEARS BRING HOME ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS: Graduate pitcher Stephanie Rundlett, graduate catcher Haylee Bobos, senior outfielder Aliya Ewell and sophomore pitcher/infielder Melissa Paz were all named to the MEAC All-Tournament Team. Rundlett would be named the tournament's outstanding performer, while MSU head coach Larry Hineline was named outstanding coach.
 
PARTY LIKE IT'S 1999: It took the Morgan State softball program just six years as a Division I program to reach the MEAC championship game in 1999. Unfortunately, Morgan State would fall to Florida A&M, 11-0. 22 years later the Lady Bears were back in the MEAC title game for just the second time in program history. This time they would win the title, defeating North Carolina Central, 10-5 at the NSU Softball Field on the Norfolk State University campus in Norfolk, Va.
 
RUNDLETT RECORDS 40TH CAREER VICTORY: Graduate pitcher Stephanie Rundlett (42 wins), who recorded all three of Morgan's victories in the tournament, secured career victory No. 40 in the 4-3 victory over North Carolina Central (5/13) in the opener of the MEAC Tournament.
 
MORGAN HAS 13 NAMED TO MEAC ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM: Morgan State had 13 players (Mikayla Barnard, Haylee Bobos, Damishah Charles, Katariina Delph, Ellen Ebbers, Kyley Fijalkowski, Deborah Hamilton, Maya McIntyre, Melissa Paz, Stephanie Rundlett, Cayla Sweazie, Meikel Turner and Jalian Young) named to the MEAC Softball All-Academic Team as announced on Friday (5/14).
 
SIX LADY BEARS NAMED TO ALL-MEAC TEAMS: Morgan State had six players earn 2021 All-MEAC team honors. Graduate pitcher Stephanie Rundlett was named to the All-MEAC second team, while fellow graduate catcher Haylee Bobos, senior outfielder Jalian Young, junior pitcher Mikayla Barnard, sophomore third baseman Ellen Ebbers and freshman shortstop Mia Ewell all received third-team All-MEAC honors.
 
SENIORS EARN ONE FINAL HOME WIN; DEFEAT GEORGE MASON: Morgan State said goodbye to six seniors during the season finale against George Mason (5/5). Meikel Turner, Jalian Young, Maya McIntyre, Damishah Charles, Stephanie Rundlett and Haylee Bobos all started and played together in their final collegiate home contest and went out with one final victory inside the friendly confines of at Lois T. Murray Field. The Lady Bears would defeat George Mason in the series opener, 4-3. The win ended an eight-game losing streak to George Mason and was the program's lone victory over the Patriots in the series' 10 meetings.
 
HAMILTON NAMED MEAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Morgan State sophomore Deborah Hamilton was named MEAC Softball Player of the Week (5/4). It was the first weekly honor for Hamilton. A native of Killeen, Texas, she helped Morgan State to a 5-1 week with a non-conference doubleheader sweep of Bowie State, followed by three out of four wins over rival Coppin State in the MEAC regular season series finale. Hamilton played in four games and batted .714 with five hits, including two triples, three runs batted in and three runs scored. She also had two stolen bases on two attempts and tied for the team lead with nine total bases. Hamilton hit .750, going 3-for-4 with two triples, two runs scored, an RBI and a stolen base in the series finale against Bowie State (4/28). She then batted .667 with two hits and two RBIs in the final MEAC regular season game against rival Coppin State (5/2).
 
LADY BEARS CAPTURE NORTHERN DIVISION CROWN: Morgan State began the MEAC slate sweeping both Norfolk State (3/13-14) and Delaware State (4/2-3) to start the season 8-0 in league play. The Lady Bears then dropped the series opener at Howard (4/10), 5-4 in nine innings to suffer its first MEAC Northern Division loss. Morgan State would win the next two games, before dropping the series finale to the Bison to earn a 2-2 series split. The Lady Bears then won three of four games against rival Coppin State in the MEAC series finale to win the division title.
 
BOBOS RECORDS 100TH CAREER HIT: Graduate catcher Haylee Bobos singled to left field in the first inning of Game 1 at Coppin State (5/2) to record her 100^th career hit at Morgan State.
 
BATES HAS BREAKOUT: Morgan State freshman outfielder Kayla Bates had the performance of her young career to help the Lady Bears conclude a doubleheader sweep over Bowie State (4/28). A native of Milwaukee, Wis., Bates finished the game going 3-for-3, including two homeruns, three runs scored, a game-high five RBIs and a walk in the win over the Bulldogs.
 
FIJALKOWSKI NAMED MEAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Morgan State junior Kyley Fijalkowski was named MEAC Softball Player of the Week (4/27). It was the first weekly honor for Fijalkowski. A native of Lockport, N.Y., Fijalkowski helped Morgan State to a 1-1 week against Drexel, by batting a team-leading .556 after going 5-for-9 with a homerun, two RBIs and three runs scored. She batted .600, going 3-for-5 and stealing a base in a 13-8 victory over the Dragons in the series opener. In Game 2 she went 2-for-4 at the plate, including a homer and a run scored.
 
HINELINE RECORDS WIN NO. 100: Head coach Larry Hineline recorded his 100^th career victory at Morgan State, following the Lady Bears' 5-2 victory over North Carolina Central (4/18) in the finale of the MEAC Round-Up. Hineline, who is in his seventh season at the helm, has a tallied 114 wins at Morgan State, guided the Lady Bears to four 20-plus win seasons, including a school record 28 wins in 2018 and two Northern Division crowns (2018, 2021).
 
LADY BEARS GO 1-2 AT MEAC ROUND-UP: The Morgan State softball team concluded the weekend during the MEAC Round-Up going 1-2 against the league's Southern Division. Morgan State dropped its opener against North Carolina A&T (4/16) in a match-up between division leaders, 7-4. The Lady Bears then fell to host South Carolina State (4/17), before closing out with a victory over North Carolina Central (4/18).
 
YOUNG NAMED MEAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior outfielder Jalian Young was named MEAC Softball Player of the Week (4/13). Young batted .385 with five hits, including a double and triple and totaled three RBIs in 13 at bats to help Morgan State to a 2-2 weekend against rival Howard. A native of Westampton, N.J., Young went 3-for-4 at the plate with a double and RBI in a 5-4 road loss in nine innings to Howard in the series opener (4/10). She followed that up with two hits, including a triple, a run and two RBIs in the Game 2 victory over the Bison.
 
BARNARD, EWELL EARN MEAC HONORS: Mikayla Barnard was named MEAC Pitcher of the Week, while freshman Mia Ewell was named MEAC Co-Rookie of the Week (4/6). This is the second weekly honor this season for Barnard, who also earned the award (3/16). Ewell was receiving her first honor. Barnard improved to 6-2 on the season after picking up a pair of complete-game shutout victories over Delaware State over the weekend. She had an ERA of 0.00, as Morgan swept the four-game series against the Hornets. Ewell hit .308 with four hits, four runs, two RBIs and a walk in the four-game series. The Portland, Oregon native went 3-for-3 with a run and RBI with three stolen bases in the second game.
 
BARNARD NAMED MEAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Junior Mikayla Barnard was named MEAC Softball Pitcher of the Week, presented by Coca-Cola (3/16). Barnard went 3-0 during the week, while registering victories over Kutztown and twice against Norfolk State. She had an earned run average of 1.55, while striking out a total of 18 batters over the three contests. A native of Ellicott City, Md., Barnard recorded a season-best 11 strikeouts in a 5-3 victory over visiting Norfolk State in Game 2 of their MEAC season opening series (3/13).
 
MORGAN PICKED THIRD IN MEAC PRESEASON POLL: Morgan State was picked to finish third in the MEAC Northern Division 67 points, including two first-place votes. Howard, which received 78 points and eight first-place votes, was picked to win the division, followed by Norfolk State, which earned 77 points and nine first-place votes for third.
 
THREE LADY BEARS EARN PRESEASON ALL-MEAC HONORS: Seniors Stephanie Rundlett and Haylee Bobos were named to the MEAC Softball Preseason first team, while fellow senior Aliya Ewell was named to the second team.
 
2021 MEAC SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT: The 2021 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Softball Championship Tournament is scheduled for May 13-15, 2021 at NSU Softball Field on the campus of Norfolk State University in Norfolk, Va. This year's double-elimination format will feature only the top-two seeds from the MEAC's Northern and Southern Divisions.

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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.