BALTIMORE, Md. (Feb. 9, 2023)--The 2024 softball season is finally here. The Lady Bears open the season at home on Saturday, February 10, when they welcome the Bowie State Lady Bulldogs in a non-conference doubleheader at Lois T. Murray Field. The two-game series gets underway at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
 
This will be the first meeting between the two programs since the 2022 season, when they met a total of four times. Morgan State would sweep the season series, winning all four games by outscoring the Lady Bulldogs a combined 41-8 with two shutout victories. Last season's doubleheader was canceled. Morgan State holds a 5-0 series lead since 2012.
 
Morgan State, the reigning three-time defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) regular season champions, including the 2021 MEAC North Division champion (the league's final year of division play), was selected as the MEAC preseason favorite to win the 2024 regular season crown.
 
The Lady Bears would place five on the preseason All-MEAC Team. Morgan State graduate student Victoria Fletcher was named MEAC Preseason Player of the Year, while senior Anaya Hunte was named MEAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
 
Fletcher and Hunte, who were both named to the Preseason All-MEAC First Team as pitchers, were joined by fellow teammates graduate utility player Melissa Paz and sophomore outfielder Nia Lewis on the first team. Senior outfielder Mia Ewell was named to the Preseason All-MEAC Second Team, while Fletcher also earned second team honors at first base.
 
Led by head coach Larry Hineline, the program's winningest coach with 165 victories, Morgan State returns 12 letterwinners from last season's team that finished 24-21 overall and went 14-4 in the MEAC.
 
Morgan State entered last season's MEAC Tournament once again as the top seed, but would drop a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to rival Coppin State in the quarterfinal round, before falling to Maryland Eastern Shore, 11-7 in an elimination game.
 
Bowie State enters Saturday's contests as the defending 2023 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) regular season, CIAA Northern Division and CIAA Tournament champions. The Bulldogs claimed the championship crown after defeating the defending league champions Claflin, 8-2 in the final game of a three-game series to advance to the NCAA Division II softball playoffs.
 
Led by head coach Ed Powell, who is in his fourth season, the Bulldogs finished 14-2 in CIAA action and were 35-16 overall, setting a new program record for most wins in a season led by Powell.
 
The Bulldogs return three all-conference players in pitcher and CIAA Player of the Year, Lindsey George, All-CIAA utility player Akirra Pullen and All-CIAA outfielder Jayla Hill.

 
FOLLOW MORGAN STATE ATHLETICS IN CYBERSPACE 
There are many ways to keep up with MSU athletics online and on the go:
• Visit www.morganstatebears.com, the official web site of Bears athletics, for news, schedules, stats, bios and more. 
• Follow us on social media:
 Facebook: /MorganStateBears
 Twitter: @MorganStBears
 Instagram: /MorganStateBears

ABOUT MORGAN
Morgan State University, founded in 1867, is a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution offering nearly 140 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.