NORFOLK, Va. (May 8, 2024)--Morgan State began the 2024 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) softball championship on Wednesday afternoon taking on defending champion North Carolina Central in a quarterfinal game.
 
All the scoring would come in the first inning, as the fourth-seeded Eagles would hold off the top-seeded Lady Bears, 3-1 at NSU Softball Field on the campus of Norfolk, Va.
 
NCCU (20-34), which was coming off a 1-0 win over #5 Maryland Eastern Shore earlier in the day, improved to 2-0 in the tournament and will now face the winner between #2 Howard and #3 Coppin State.
 
Morgan State (30-18), which has now lost five straight MEAC Tournament games, since falling in both games in the 2022 title appearance, dropped to the loser's bracket, where it will face #6 Maryland Eastern Shore in an elimination game on Thursday at 12 noon.
 
The Lady Bears swept this season's series against Maryland Eastern Shore. However, last season, the Hawks and Morgan State met in this very elimination game, with sixth-seeded UMES would win, 11-7.
 
Wednesday, North Carolina Central would outhit Morgan State, 10-8. The Eagles recorded back-to-back singles by T Suttles and K Smith to start the first inning, before Fletcher struck out I Harrell. J Barr stepped in the box and hit a three-run homer to left field to put the Eagles up 3-0.
 
Morgan State would get a run back in the bottom half of the first inning, but NCCU was able to avoid a big inning with some timely defense. Amber Rivas led off the inning with a single to right center and Ellie Bostedt reached on a fielder's choice and Rivas was safe at second. Fletcher then singled up the middle, scoring Rivas to cut the deficit to 3-1 with no outs. Melissa Paz singled to right field, but a base running blunder on the play by Morgan State turned into a double play, which helped the Eagles to avoid a potential big inning by the Morgan State offense.  
 
The Lady Bears threatened again in the second inning, loading the bases with one out, but would be turned away by Eagle pitcher, J Davis to again avoid any further damage.
 
Paz led Morgan with a game-high three hits, going 3-for-4 at the plate, while Rivas finished 2-for-4 with a run. Fletcher, who started in the circle, went 1-for-3 batting with an RBI. Fletcher pitched 3.2 innings, surrendering three runs on five hits and had a game-high three strikeouts. Emily Raubuch came in relief and pitched 3.1 innings, was tagged for five hits and no runs and also struck out a game-high three batters.
 
NCCU was led by Harrell, who finished 3-for-4 at the plate. Barr was 1-for-3 with a game-high three RBI and I Jones went 2-for-3.
 
Davis went the distance for the Eagles, allowing a run on eight hits, six walks and had two strikeouts.
 
 
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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.