BALTIMORE, Md. (April 27, 2025)--Morgan State closed out the regular season with a trip to West Baltimore to face crosstown rival Coppin State in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) series finale on Sunday afternoon at the Coppin State Softball Complex.
 
The Lady Bears would walk away with a three-game series sweep of their rivals, following victories of 8-7, 10-9 and 10-5 in eight innings.
 
It was the first meeting between the two programs since playing in last season's MEAC Championship game, where Morgan State would defeat Coppin State twice to capture the tournament crown.
 
Morgan State (17-27, 12-9 MEAC), which ended the regular season on a four-game winning streak, has now won five straight and 15 of the last 17 meetings against Coppin State.
 
Coppin State (3-28, 3-18 MEAC) finished the season dropping its last 13 games in a row and going 3-9 at home.
 
How It Happened
Game 1
The Lady Bears and Coppin State began Sunday morning concluding the series opener which was suspended in the top of the seventh inning on Saturday with Morgan State batting and holding an 8-7 lead.
 
Morgan State took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Gianna Ettore grounded out to third to score Cassie White.
 
Coppin State came right back in the bottom of the inning and went up 2-1 after Giselle Ulloa hit the ball to right field for an inside the park homerun.
 
The Lady Bears reclaimed the lead in the fourth inning when Olivia Pagano homered to left field to give the guests a 3-2 lead. Tonya Marks scored when Hunter Newman grounded out at second base to make it a 4-2 game.
 
Coppin State would plate four runs in the fifth highlighted by two RBI triples by Aniyah Haley and Ulloa to give the Eagles a 6-4 lead.
 
Morgan State went back to work, scoring four runs to take an 8-6 lead, including a two-run double to left field, scoring Pagano and Marks, tying the score at 6-6. Victoria Fletcher later flied out to centerfield to bring home Olivia Garner for the 8-6 advantage.
 
The Eagles got a run back in the bottom of the sixth when Emily Quintero singled on a bunt and advanced to second on a throwing error, which allowed Leslie Sereno to score.
 
The score would remain 8-7 when the game was suspended on Saturday and would be the final score once the game resumed on Sunday.
 
Marks and Pagano each went 2-for-3 with two runs scored to lead the Lady Bears. Pagano finished with 2 RBI. Newman led Morgan State with a game-high 3 RBI.
 
Fletcher got the win for the Lady Bears and improved to 8-13, while Serena Rodriguez earned the save. Fletcher pitched 5.1 innings and struck out a game-high seven batters. Rodriguez went 1.2 innings and had a strikeout.
 
Game 2
Morgan State and Coppin State would again go back-and-forth in the second game with the visiting Lady Bears coming out with another one-run victory over the Eagles (10-9). The guests recorded 10 runs on 12 hits and had three errors, while Coppin scored nine runs on 11 hits and committed three errors also.
 
Olivia Pagano hit her second homerun in as many games and drove in a game-high 3 RBI. Gianna Ettore had a hit, 2 RBI and a run, while Cassie White finished 2-for-4 with two runs. Rylee Hyde and Victoria Fletcher each went 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored.
 
Fletcher also earned her second win of the series in as many games to improve to 9-13 on the season in the circle. She pitched 4.0 innings and surrendered four runs on five hits and struck out a game-high four batters.
 
Starting pitcher Serena Rodriguez went 3.0 innings and tossed two strikeouts, while surrendering five runs on six hits.
 
Morgan State jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first when Pagano homered to centerfield. The Lady Bears scored two runs in both the second and third innings to increase their lead to 7-1.
 
The Eagles erupted for four runs in the bottom third to pull within 7-5.
 
Morgan State got a run in the fourth on Hunter Newman's RBI single to left field, scoring Nia Lewis for an 8-5 lead. The Lady Bears then added two more runs in the fifth on a two-run doubled by Ettore to extend the advantage to 10-5.
 
Coppin State wouldn't go away, scoring two runs in the fifth on an RBI double hit by Xzylia Maravilla to centerfield and an RBI single by Paris Pinkston to cut the Morgan lead to 10-7.
 
The Eagles then drew closer when they added two more runs in the sixth inning when Julianna Mejia and Maravilla each singled in runs to make it a 10-9 game. However, that would be as close as the Eagles would get.
 
Game 3
After playing two straight one-run games to begin the series, it seemed only right that the two Baltimore rivals needed extra innings in the third and final game of the regular season.
 
Morgan State held a 4-0 lead after scoring a run in the second and three runs in third inning. The Eagles scored a run each in the fourth and fifth innings to cut the deficit in half at 4-2.
 
The Lady Bears added a run in the sixth when Amber Rivas lined into a double play, which scored Tonya Marks to make it a 5-2 Morgan lead.
 
Again, Coppin State would not go away, as the Eagles would put together three runs in the bottom seventh to tie the score and force extra innings.
 
Xzylia Maravilla reached on a fielding error, which allowed Giselle Ulloa to score. Maravilla then scored on a wild pitch, cutting the deficit to 5-4. Emily Quintero grounded out to shortstop, which scored Brooklyn Tapusoa for the tying run to make it 5-5.
 
In the top half of the eighth, the Lady Bears wasted no time putting the game out of reach. Morgan State would score five runs in the extra session, which would be too much for Coppin to overcome.
 
Hunter Newman and Denver Obermeyer each singled in runs to put the Lady Bears ahead, 7-5. Rivas doubled to right center to score Cassie White for the third run of the inning. With bases loaded, Olivia Garner grounded out to second base, scoring Jayla Campos for the 9-5 lead. Olivia Pagano reached on a fielding error and Rivas scored to make it a 10-5 game.
 
Newman led the Lady Bears with a team-high three hits on four at bats and had 2 RBI. Campos was 2-for-2 with 2 RBI.
 
Victoria Fletcher helped the Lady Bears completed the series sweep by picking up her third consecutive win in the three games. Fletcher would improve to 10-13 on the season and added two more strikeouts to give her a total of 13 for the series and 114 on the season.  
 
ON DECK: The Lady Bears will now prepare to defend their MEAC crown in next week's MEAC softball championship tournament in Norfolk, Va., scheduled for May 7-10, 2025, at NSU Softball Field, hosted by Norfolk State University.         
 
 
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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.