Friday
NSU vs. North Carolina A&T (DH), 2 p.m., NSU Softball Field
Live Stats | Live Video (Game 1 Only)

NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State softball team will begin a stretch of nine straight games at home beginning this Friday when the Spartans face-off against North Carolina A&T for a doubleheader. The first game of the twinbill at the NSU Softball Field is set to begin at 2 p.m.

The Spartans enter the contests against the Aggies 3-12 overall this season, while A&T carries a 5-10 record. The doubleheader will not count toward either team's MEAC record because they are in separate divisions.

Live stats and a live video feed will be available for the first game only.

About NSU
The Spartans bumped their team average up 18 points to .240 last weekend, which included a 7-2 victory over UConn when NSU hit four home runs. Junior Alina Moriarty had two of those homers against the Huskies and currently leads the team with four home runs and 10 RBI while hitting .333.

Sophomore Heather Dunning carries a team-best .432 average into Friday's games, with senior Morgan Boyd third behind Moriarty at .326 to go along with eight stolen bases and eight runs scored. Sophomore Whitney Williams has also driven in 10 runs this season.

In the circle, senior Jamie Schulle owns a 2.86 ERA and all three of the team's wins. Senior Stephanie Wheatley has posted a 3.53 ERA in 37.2 innings of work.

All-Time Series
NSU won both games last year against the Aggies and has been victorious in six of the last seven, but A&T still leads the all-time series, 37-25. After the Spartans moved into the MEAC Northern Division in 2012, the series with A&T became a non-conference one.

Norfolk State swept a doubleheader last year on the road, winning 16-2 and 16-8. NSU had 36 hits on the day, with Gipsy Ramirez providing plenty of punch with a 6-for-8 effort with six runs and nine RBI. It marked the most runs scored in back-to-back games since March 27, 2001, and the most hits in two straight games since at least 2000.

Going for 2
Alina Moriarty hit a pair of homers against UConn last Sunday. It marked the second time in her career she did so after also belting two home runs at Delaware on March 15, 2013.

NSU's four homers in the game marked the most by a Spartan team since March 9, 2002, when Norfolk State hit four homers in a 16-8, game 1 loss at South Carolina State. Those are believed to be the only two times in the Division I era NSU has hit four homers in a game.

Getting Closer
Morgan Boyd now has 154 hits in her career, placing her fifth all-time at NSU. She needs 26 more to pass Brianeisha Eure for first place in the Spartan record book. Boyd also ranks seventh all-time with 86 stolen bases.

Jamie Schulle continues to chase the program's strikeout record held by Angela Smith, who had 421 from 1993-97. At 368, Schulle needs 54 more to pass Smith for that program record.

Scouting the Aggies
North Carolina A&T fell to 5-10 overall last weekend at the Tennessee State Tournament, which included splits with Saint Louis and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Aggies also defeated fellow MEAC school UMES by a 9-1 score nearly three weeks ago.

Sabrina Edmonds leads the way with a .333 batting average, tallying three home runs and nine RBI so far this year. Haley Snyder has knocked in 10 runs while hitting .296, and Tranea Jones has a team leading 11 RBI with seven runs scored despite a .196 average. Janika May has started six games and owns the best ERA among A&T's three pitchers at 4.45 with three of the team's five wins.

Up Next
NSU will face another MEAC school in North Carolina Central next Tuesday at 4 p.m. for a twinbill at NSU's home field.