This Weekend's Slate
Saturday: Hampton at NSU, 4 p.m., NSU Softball Field
Sunday: Hampton at NSU (DH), Noon, NSU Softball Field
Live Stats | Live Video
NORFOLK, Va. – A trio of seniors will be honored on Saturday as the Norfolk State softball team finishes out the regular season with a three-game series against Hampton at home this weekend. The Spartans will hold their Senior Day festivities before Saturday's 4 p.m. contest, and then finish up with a doubleheader Sunday at noon at the NSU Softball Field.
NSU will celebrate the accomplishments of three of its seniors in outfielder Danielle Wright, third baseman Whitney Holland and infielder Candice Vasquez prior to the start of Saturday's contest. After sitting out the season due to injury, NSU's fourth senior, pitcher Elizabeth Castaneda, will return for a redshirt senior season in 2013.
After already locking up a spot in the MEAC tournament next week, the Spartans will attempt to at least solidify their third-place spot in the MEAC Northern Division and possibly move up the standings depending on other games around the league.
Live stats and a live video feed will be available for all three games. The start of Saturday's game was pushed back to 4 p.m. to accommodate for NSU's graduation ceremonies earlier in the day.
The Spartans own a 10-5 conference record this year and stand 21-22 overall on the season. The Spartans sit a game back of Coppin State, which carries an 11-4 record, and two games back of Delaware State, which sits atop the Northern Division standings at 12-3. Coppin State plays Morgan State this weekend, while Delaware State will finish the year with UMES.
Hampton owns an 8-7 conference record this year and would need to sweep NSU in order to move up from its current fourth-place position. By virtue of their sweep of Howard, the Pirates have already locked up the fourth and final spot from the North in the MEAC tournament. Hampton stands 22-29 overall this year.
The three-day, double-elimination tournament begins next Thursday at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex in Ormond Beach, Fla. Should NSU finish as the No. 3 seed from the North, the Spartans would face the No. 2 seed from the South in the first round Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
Hampton and NSU have played more than 100 times throughout the years, dating back to their CIAA days in the 1980s through the mid-90's. The Pirates lead the all-time series, 56-45-1. NSU took three of four from Hampton last year in a pair of home-and-home doubleheaders.
Scouting the Spartans
As a team, NSU comes into the weekend hitting .286 overall, led by freshman Haley Ward's .418 average. Ward also leads the team with 30 runs, 51 hits, 10 doubles, a .566 slugging percentage and a .478 on-base percentage to go along with two homers and 18 RBI. Sophomore Morgan Boyd is hitting .364 with 23 runs and a team-high 23 stolen bases, while freshman Alina Moriarty ranks third on the team with a .333 average and has contributed 13 runs, five doubles, two home runs and 15 RBI.
Junior Gipsy Ramirez (.323, 17 runs, nine doubles, one homer, 16 RBI) and senior Danielle Wright (.310, 24 runs, eight doubles, one homer, 15 stolen bases, team-leading 19 RBI) also help pace the NSU offense. Senior Whitney Holland (.295, 15 runs, five doubles, four homers, 18 RBI) and sophomore Kathy Cortez (.234, 16 runs, four doubles, 14 RBI) have started nearly every game at third base and catcher, respectively.
Sophomore Jamie Schulle owns an 11-9 record in the circle, including five shutouts to her resume, with 122 strikeouts in 161.1 innings pitched. Freshman Liz Riley has thrown 121.0 innings and carries a 10-13 overall record with a 2.95 ERA.
Nationally Ranked
Kathy Cortez moved up to third in the latest NCAA national rankings in toughest-to-strikeout. Cortez now stands third, fanning once every 62 at bats this season. Whitney Holland ranks 26th as well in the same category with a strikeout every 24.4 at bats.
Morgan Boyd sits 26th in stolen bases with 0.56 per game, while Haley Ward is 32nd in hitting with a .418 average. Of the top 30 players in the nation in stolen bases, Boyd is just one of two who have yet to be caught. Ward, meanwhile, ranks fifth in the nation in hitting among all freshmen players.
More Records Falling
Jamie Schulle already owns the most strikeouts in a season in Division I history, and is 12 away from tying for the third-most K's in a season overall, but she also needs two more appearances in the circle to tie the all-time program record of 39 set by Catherine Wright in 1990.
Danielle Wright needs 11 more hits to tie the all-time program record of 179 set by Brianeisha Eure, while Haley Ward needs eight more hits to tie Wright's record for the most in a season in D-I history. Morgan Boyd needs five more stolen bases to tie Wright's D-I record in that category as well.
MEAC Rankings
Morgan Boyd sits in a tie for first place in the MEAC with 23 stolen bases, while Haley Ward ranks second in batting average (.418), fourth in on-base percentage (.478) and fifth in slugging (.566). Melina Valles, meanwhile, ranks second in walks (20), while Kathy Cortez sits third in sacrifice hits (8) and Jamie Schulle also ranks third in strikeouts (122).
About Hampton
The Pirates have failed to win a true road game this year and sit just 5-22 overall in road/neutral site contests. Hampton hits .272 as a team, led by Bre'Anna Brown's .391 average with 17 stolen bases in 36 games. Nina Ferguson owns a .322 average with team highs of 25 runs, 11 doubles and 26 RBI. Margaret Wilkins (.303, 22 runs, nine doubles, two homers, 26 RBI) and Jailynn Jackson (.300) are also hitting at least .300 on the year.
Hampton also gets production from Carla Trimble (.297, 19 runs, seven doubles, four home runs, 25 RBI), Sharde' Estep (.272, 15 runs, four doubles, two homers, 14 RBI) and Kelsei Saunders (.247, 13 runs, six doubles, three homers, 16 RBI) among others. Nine different players have scored at least 15 runs this season.
In the circle, Travonna Byrd owns a 4.79 ERA with a 12-16 record, striking out 103 while walking 94 in 173.0 innings. Jailynn Jackson has started the other half of the team's games and carries a 10-13 record with a 6.31 ERA, striking out 94 in 148.1 innings of work.
Up Next
NSU will head down to the MEAC tournament and play either at 10 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. on Thursday. The No. 1 seeds face the No. 4 seeds from the other division at 10, while the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds will face-off at 1:30.
