SALISBURY, Md. (March 22, 2025)--One week after dropping its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) series, ending a winning streak of 10 series dating back to the 2023 campaign, the Morgan State softball team appeared to get back on track.
 
The Lady Bears returned to MEAC play and swept Saturday's doubleheader on the road against Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), defeating the Hawks, 10-2 in six innings and 17-0 in five innings at the Henry S. Parker Athletic Complex.
 
Morgan State improved to 7-18 overall and 3-2 in the MEAC with the victories, while UMES fell to 2-21, 1-4 in the MEAC. The Lady Bears, who have now won six straight and seven of the last eight meetings over UMES, has also won 27 of the last 32 games against the Hawks.
 
Prior to the Lady Bears dropping its series last weekend to Delaware State, Morgan State's last MEAC series loss came to the Hawks (April 15-16, 2023), who won 2-of-3 against the Lady Bears.
 
How It Happened
Game 1 
Morgan State jumped out to score three runs in the first inning. Gianna Ettore grounded out to short to score Amber Rivas and Tonya Marks also grounded out to short to score Olivia Gardner for a 2-0 lead. Olivia Pagano would later score on an error by the catcher to extend the Lady Bears' lead to 3-0.
 
The guests added another run in the second when Garner singled to score Cassie White and give Morgan a 4-0 advantage.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore got on the board in the bottom of the second inning when Ella Falcetti scored on a single hit to left field by McKenzie Abiley to make it a 4-1 game. The Hawks added another run in the third to cut the deficit in half at 4-2 when Clarke Calvin scored on an error.
 
It would remain a two-run deficit until the sixth inning when the Lady Bears scored six runs in the inning to put the game out of reach and end the game an inning early due to the eight-run rule.
 
An error at third base allowed Morgan Harrell-Alvarez to score the first run of the inning. Ettore hit a two-run single, driving in White and Rivas for a 7-2 lead. Marks also hit a two-run single to score Garner and Ettore to increase the Lady Bears' cushion to 9-2. Marks would score on Hunter Newman's single to give the Lady Bears the eight-run advantage at 10-2.
 
Ettore and Marks each totaled a game-high 3 RBIs to lead the Lady Bears. Garner finished 2-for-3 with two runs and 2 RBIs and Newman also tallied two hits. Rivas and White both scored twice.
 
Victoria Fletcher picked up the win in relief to improve to 3-9. Fletcher allowed just one hit and two walks, while striking out three batters in four innings. Starting pitcher Serena Rodriguez also recorded three strikeouts in two innings.
 
Game 2
Offensively, Morgan State would score a season-high 17 runs on 17 hits, while holding the Hawks to just one hit for the game. The 17 runs are the most since April 16, 2023, when the Lady Bears defeated the Hawks on the road by the same 17-0 score in the series finale to salvage a game in that series.
 
The Lady Bears scored five runs in the first inning to take a quick 5-0 lead. Gianna Ettore's single, coupled by an error on the centerfielder, scored Olivia Garner and Victoria Fletcher. Morgan Harrell-Alvarez singled to score Ettore and Tonya Marks and Hyde singled to left field to score Harrell-Alvarez for the 5-0 lead.
 
Morgan State went back to work in the second, scoring eight more runs, highlighted by two homeruns. Fletcher hit a three-run homer to make it 8-0 and Alison Keener hit a grand slam to extend Morgan's cushion to 13-0.   
 
The Lady Bears added four more runs in the fourth inning capped off by a two-run single by Marks to score Cassie White and Garner to put Morgan State up 17-0.
 
Keener went 3-for-3 with a game-high three runs and a game-high 5 RBIs to lead Morgan State. White also went 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and Marks finished 3-for-4 with a run and 2 RBIs. Ettore was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, while Harrell-Alvarez and Nia Lewis both finished 1-for-3 with two runs scored. Harrell-Alvarez added 2 RBIs.
 
Serena Rodriguez pitched a no-hitter through the four innings she pitched and recorded two strikeouts. Rodriguez would get the win to improve to 4-8 on the season.
 
UMES pitchers Kassidy Oneail and Emily Gunther each recorded three strikeouts in relief. Kamille Trammell prevented a Morgan State no-hitter when she hit a two-out pinch hit double to right field in the fifth inning.  
 
Next Up: Morgan State and UMES will wrap up the series on Sunday at noon. The Lady Bears will then be off until next weekend when they host South Carolina State (March 29-30) at Lois T. Murray Field. First pitch between the Lady Bears and Lady Bulldogs is at 1 p.m. on Saturday, followed by Game 2 at 3 p.m. Sunday's contest will start at 12 noon.


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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.