Morgan State Box Score
Bethune-Cookman Box Score
Howard Box Score
ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – After dropping to the loser's bracket of the MEAC Tournament following a 7-6 loss to Delaware State on Thursday night, the Norfolk State softball team was faced with the unenviable task of having to win three times on Friday to advance to Saturday's championship round.
But the Spartans (23-32) stared down those odds and pulled off the improbable. After a nail-biting 2-1, 10-inning win over Morgan State on Friday morning in which Ky Brown (Woodsfield, Ohio) pitched a gem, NSU defeated tournament Bethune-Cookman 7-4 and then defending conference champion Howard 6-1 on Friday afternoon to advance to Saturday's championship round against Delaware State.
NSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Bethune-Cookman (21-36) on a two-out, two-run double by Rebecca Barnes (Hampton, Va.) in the third inning. But the Wildcats answered when Brandi Holley hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning for a 3-2 lead.
But NSU rallied with a four-run fifth to take the lead for good. NSU got just one hit in the frame, a lead-off triple by Gladys Cabeza (Corning, N.Y.), but took advantage of some B-CU miscues to grab a 6-3 lead. Barnes, Sarah Wittwer (Grand Junction, Colo.) and Meghan Ramsey (Virginia Beach, Va.) knocked in runs with fielder's choices in the inning, which included an error and two passed balls.
Micki Rodriguez (Newport News, Va.) got the win. She gave up three earned runs over the final four innings.
Against Howard, Brown allowed just one earned run over five innings to earn the win against one of the more potent offenses in the conference. Brown (10-8) is 3-1 spanning 31.1 innings and five games in the tournament. Rodriguez pitched the final two innings scoreless to close out the win.
The Spartans scored all their runs in the first four innings. Rodriguez had a two-out, two-run single in the second and Barnes stroked a two-run double in the fourth. Lewis, Cabeza and Brianeisha Eure (Virginia Beach, Va.) had two hits each on the night. Howard (23-17) was limited to seven hits.
Barnes was 3-for-7 with five RBI in the two afternoon games. Cabeza and Lewis were each 4-for-7 over those two contests, with Cabeza scoring four times.
NSU must beat the Hornets twice on Saturday to win the school's first-ever MEAC softball title. The championship round gets underway at 1 p.m. This is the Spartans' first MEAC softball championship round appearance since 2000, when they fell to Bethune-Cookman.
