This Week
Wednesday: Howard at NSU (DH), 3 p.m., NSU Softball Field
Thursday: Howard at NSU, 1 p.m., NSU Softball Field
Live Stats | Live Video

NORFOLK, Va. – Only two conference series remain for the Norfolk State softball team before the MEAC tournament, and NSU will attempt to remain in first place beginning Wednesday when Howard comes to town. The Spartans and Bison will play a doubleheader at 3 p.m., followed by a single game on Thursday at 1 p.m. at the NSU Softball Field.

The three-game series was rescheduled from March 31-April 1 after Howard had to initially cancel the games due to NCAA eligibility issues.

NSU sits 9-3 in conference play and atop the MEAC Northern Division standings along with Delaware State, although by virtue of their 2-1 record against the Hornets, the Spartans own the tiebreaker with DSU. Howard is currently in fifth place with a 6-6 record in conference play and 9-32 overall. NSU carries a 20-20 overall record into the mid-week games.

As usual for all home games, live stats and live video will be available for all three games. The all-time series between NSU and Howard remains tied at 9-9. The two squads last met in 2009, with the Bison coming away with a pair of wins in a doubleheader at the NSU Softball Field.

Delaware State will play at Howard this weekend, while Coppin State, with an 8-4 MEAC record, gets Hampton (7-4) at home this weekend.

Scouting the Spartans
After dropping down to as low as .252 earlier in the month, NSU is hitting .283 for the season and has had 11 or more hits in six of the last 10 games. Leading the way is freshman Haley Ward at .432. She also paces the team with 27 runs, 48 hits, 10 doubles, 18 RBI, a .595 slugging percentage and a .492 on-base percentage. Freshman Alina Moriarty ranks second with a .339 average to go along with 13 runs, two home runs and 15 RBI.

Sophomore Morgan Boyd has come on strong and is now hitting .330 with 23 runs and 20 stolen bases, while junior Gipsy Ramirez owns a .319 average with 14 runs, eight doubles and 16 RBI. Senior Danielle Wright is the fifth player hitting above .300 at .311 and has also contributed 24 runs, seven doubles, 16 RBI and 13 stolen bases. The Spartans have also gotten production from senior Whitney Holland (.287, five doubles, four homers, 17 RBI) and sophomore Kathy Cortez (.230, 13 runs, 14 RBI).

In the circle, both sophomore Jamie Schulle and freshman Liz Riley have each won 10 games on the season and have combined for seven shutouts. Schulle has struck out 111 in 149 innings with a 3.34 ERA in 24 starts, while Riley has started 16 games and carries a 2.87 ERA with 50 K's in 112.1 innings pitched.

Hitting Streak Continues
Haley Ward bumped her hitting streak up to 18 games after a 2-for-2 effort in last Saturday's shutout loss to Delaware State. Ward's streak is the longest of the Division I era. She is just two games away from tying the second-longest mark in school history, a 20-game effort by Paulette Hack in 1984. The all-time program record stands at 33.

Moving Up
Haley Ward now sits 24th in the nation in batting average with a .432 clip. Her mark also puts her fourth in the nation among freshmen. In addition, she sits 23 points ahead of the second-best hitter in the MEAC rankings.

A Streak of Her Own
Dating back to last season, Morgan Boyd has stolen 23 straight bases and has been caught just once in her last 37 attempts.

More National, MEAC Rankings
Kathy Cortez now ranks fourth in the nation in toughest-to-strikeout, fanning once every 56.5 at bats. In addition, Whitney Holland stands 29th in the same category, striking out once every 23 at bats, while Morgan Boyd is 32nd in stolen bases with 0.53 per game.

In the conference standings, Ward ranks second with a .492 on-base percentage, third with a .595 slugging percentage and 10 doubles and fourth in hits with 48. Melina Valles ranks second in walks with 18, while Cortez is tied for second with seven sacrifice hits.

In addition, Boyd ranks second in stolen bases with 20, and Jamie Schulle sits third in strikeouts with 111.

New D-I Record
With 111 strikeouts now on the season, Schulle owns the Division I record (1998-Present) for most K's in a season. She needs eight more to move into a tie for fourth all-time and 23 more to tie for the third-most strikeouts in a single season.

Danielle Wright, meanwhile, needs 15 more hits to tie the all-time record of 179 hits in a career held by Brianeisha Eure.

About Howard
The Bison hit just .234 on the year, with Lorae Robinson leading the way with a .326 average and team highs of 29 runs, 44 hits and 14 stolen bases. Dominique Lawrence is also hitting above .300 at .303 with 15 runs, six doubles, two home runs and 21 RBI.

Trina Kindred (.267, 12 runs, 13 RBI), Rebecca Kirshner (.262, 23 runs, eight doubles, two homers, 18 RBI) and Jenny Ly (.204, 15 runs, nine doubles, two homers) also provide some offense for the Bison.

Lawrence and Samantha Gatson have made 40 of the 41 starts on the year, with Lawrence owning a 5-13 record with a 5.91 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 106.2 innings. Gatson, meanwhile, has a nearly identical ERA at 5.93 with 58 K's in 126.1 innings.

Up Next
NSU will wrap up the regular season and figure out its spot in the MEAC tournament on May 5-6 with a three-game series against Hampton at the NSU Softball Field.