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NORFOLK, Va. – A three-run rally in the bottom of the seventh gave the Norfolk State softball team a 4-3 win in the first game against Morgan State, and the Spartans finished out the sweep with a 9-1 victory in game 2 in a conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at the NSU Softball Field.

NSU faced a two-run deficit in the first game but rallied in the last inning to pull out the win. The Spartans then put a six-spot on the board in the first inning of the second game and never looked back.

As a result of the sweep, NSU maintained first place in the MEAC Northern Division at 10-1 while also improving to .500 overall at 16-16.

Freshman Kayla McNair finished the day 3-for-4 and drove in three runs in the second game, including a walk-off home run in the fifth. Junior Alina Moriarty hit 4-for-7, while sophomore Whitney Williams also had three hits on the day.

Down 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh in that first contest, NSU got things going when senior Morgan Boyd led off the inning with a bunt toward third base. Taylor McDougall's diving attempt knocked the ball toward the backstop, allowing Boyd to reach second. She then stole third and scored when sophomore Heather Dunning reached on an infield error to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Junior Robyn Mitchell singled to left, and after a pitching change, McNair walked to load the bases, still with no outs. Moriarty singled along the left field line to plate Dunning, and one out and one pitching change later freshman Mikki Haury hit a slow roller to second to score Mitchell for the winning run.

Senior Jamie Schulle (11-7) picked up the win, giving up six hits and three earned runs with six strikeouts in all seven innings.

Morgan State (3-16, 0-7) scored in the top of the first on an RBI groundout, but junior Liz Riley's single into shallow center field in the second tied it up.

The Bears scored two in the fifth for a 3-1 lead when a pickoff attempt glanced off the batter's helmet and into left field.

The Spartan bats, slow to get going in the first contest, finally did early in game 2. They pounded out five hits in the first frame to jump ahead, 6-0.

Boyd walked, stole second, and went to third on a bunt single by Dunning. A walk loaded the bases before McNair hit a sacrifice fly for the first run. An easy-looking swing from Haury put one to the wall in center field for a double, and Williams smoked one past the pitcher to make it 3-0.

Junior Sommer Di Fulgo dropped one into shallow center, and an error on the center field brought home the second run of the play. Moriarty capped the scoring in the opening frame when she hit a blooper just down the left field line.

Zina Constancia hit a solo homer in the second to get MSU on the board, but in the bottom of the frame senior Kathy Cortez hit an RBI bloop single into shallow left for a 7-1 edge.

McNair blasted a walk-off, two-run home over the right center field fence in the fifth inning to end the game on the eight-run rule.

Senior Stephanie Wheatley improved her record to 4-4 by pitching 3.2 innings of relief, giving up just one hit and no runs.

The two teams will play a single game Sunday at noon to close out the series.