BALTIMORE, Md. (May 2, 2021)-The Morgan State softball team swept crosstown rival Coppin State on Sunday, defeating the host Eagles 11-2 in five innings in the opener and 5-2 in the nightcap in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Northern Division season finale doubleheader at CSU Softball Field.
 
Morgan State (20-14, 14-5 MEAC, 13-3 MEAC North) captured the league's northern division crown by run-ruling the Eagles in Game 1. It's the program's second division title and first since claiming the crown in 2018. The 20 wins marks the fourth time out of the last five seasons that the Lady Bears reached the 20-win plateau. Last season the Lady Bears only played 16 games before the season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
 
Game 1
The Lady Bears wasted no time putting a quick end to the opener, as they put up a sixth spot in the first inning. Already leading 1-0, graduate catcher Haylee Bobos singled to left field to record her 100^th career hit at Morgan State, which scored Ellen Ebbers to give the guests a 2-0 lead. Back-to-back RBI singles by Meikel Turner and Damishah Charles were followed by back-to-back sacrifice flies from Jalian Young and Katariina Delph to increase the lead to 6-0.
 
Coppin State (6-25, 6-13 MEAC, 3-13 MEAC North) got a run back in the bottom of the first when Nia Bowe doubled to left field to score Brissa Alvarado.
 
The guests added five more runs in the third to extend their lead to 11-1. Delph tripled to left center to score Charles and then scored herself when she stole home as Kyley Fijalkowski stole second to make it an 8-1 lead. A passed ball coupled with a throwing error on the Coppin catcher, allowed the next two runs to cross for the Lady Bears. Aliya Ewell scored on a passed ball and Ebbers advanced to third on the passed ball and scored on the Coppin throwing error to extend Morgan's lead to 10-1. Turner singled up the middle to drive in Bobos for the 11^th run of the game.
 
The Eagles got back on the board in the fifth when Ashley Weimann doubled to right center to score Bowe, to make it an 11-2 contest. However, Coppin State was unable to score anymore runs to prevent from being run-ruled and keep the game going.
 
Stephanie Rundlett earned the win for Morgan State and improved to 8-7 on the season. Rundlett struck out six batters and was charged with two runs on six hits in five innings of work to earn the complete game victory.
 
Coppin State's Vanessa Carrizosa received the loss and fell to 2-13 on the season.
 
Game 2
Deborah Hamilton got the Lady Bears going in the first inning of the nightcap when she singled to right field to score both Aliya Ewell and Ellen Ebbers for the 2-0 lead.
 
The score would stay that way until the fourth inning when Coppin got two runs to even the contest. Ashley Weimann was hit by a pitch with bases loaded, which scored Desiree Carrizosa for the first run. With bases still loaded, Sydney Dombrowski drew a four-pitch walk, which scored Nia Bowe to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Morgan's Melissa Paz, who entered the game in the fourth inning to relive starting pitcher Mikayla Barnard, helped her cause in the top of the fifth inning when she doubled to center field to score Sarah Tuzinski and Ewell, giving Morgan a 4-2 lead.
 
The Lady Bears would add the extra insurance run in the top of the seventh, when Ebbers doubled to left center to score Ewell for the 5-2 victory.
 
Hamilton finished with a team-high two hits with two RBIs and Paz also drove in a team-high two RBIs. Ewell scored a game-high three runs.
 
Paz (2-2) surrendered one hit and two walks and struck out a batter in four innings of relief to earn the victory. Barnard, who started the game, went three innings and had two strikeouts.
 
Coppin State was led by Bowe, who in her final collegiate game went 2-for-3 with a run scored.    
 
Morgan State will wrap up the 2021 regular season on Wednesday, May 5, when it welcomes George Mason to Lois T. Murray Field for a non-conference doubleheader for Senior Day. First pitch is at 2 p.m.
 
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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.