Box Score ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – Jailynn Jackson scattered five hits in six innings, and Hampton ended Norfolk State's season with an 8-0 victory over the Spartans on Friday morning in the second round of the loser's bracket of the MEAC softball tournament at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex.
Jackson struck out five, and NSU was shut out for the second time in the tournament. The Spartans ended the year 20-26 overall.
A five-run sixth inning did most of the damage for the Pirates (29-19). Danielle Baccus hit a two-run single to highlight the frame, and the Spartans went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning to end the game on the eight-run rule.
The Pirates had struck first in the top of the second. Baccus scored from third when NSU threw the ball away on a pickoff attempt at first. In the third, a single and a double put runners in scoring position for the Pirates, who then made it 2-0 on an RBI groundout.
The Spartans had a chance to score in the third when three straight singles loaded the bases with two outs, but Jackson got out of the jam by inducing an easy flyout to right.
Raenelle Taylor hit an RBI single in the fourth for a 3-0 lead, and the Pirates threatened in the fifth. Spartan starter
Jamie Schulle, though, re-entered the game after being taken out in the third, and she got out of a first-and-third, no-out jam without allowing a run.
Freshman
Mikki Haury had two of NSU's five hits in the game.
The contest also marked the last game for five Spartans seniors: pitchers
Jamie Schulle and
Stephanie Wheatley, outfielders
Morgan Boyd and
Kathy Cortez and designated player
Nikki Jones. Their 98 wins over the last four seasons were the most by a senior class in the Division I era.
They also finished with winning MEAC records the last three seasons. Prior to 2012, the Spartan program had finished better than .500 in conference play just once in 14 years.
Schulle was NSU's No. 1 starter the last three years. She ended her career first all-time at NSU in appearances (150), starts (117), innings (672.0) and strikeouts (436), third in wins (53) and 10th in ERA (3.26). A native of Maxwell, Texas, she threw 55 complete games with nine shutouts, earning a pair of all-MEAC honors her junior and senior seasons. She had a 53-49 career record.
Boyd was also a two-time all-conference honoree and finished her career first all-time at NSU in hits (205), second in games played (190), starts (187) and at bats (577), third in stolen bases (105), ninth in runs (137). The Chesapeake, Va., native's .440 average this season was the second-best in the Division I era. She hit .355 in her career with two doubles, three triples, one home run and 25 RBI.
Cortez, from Pomona, Calif., was also an all-MEAC player, after her freshman year in 2011. She started her first three years at catcher before moving to right field her senior year. She ranks fourth in games played (188), fifth in starts (177) and at bats (528), and tied for ninth in hits (150). She ended her career with a .284 average, 77 runs, 150 hits, 20 doubles, two triples, one home run and 65 RBI.
Jones, also a four-year player, competed in 123 games in her career with 79 starts. Hailing from Providence Forge, Va., she totaled 37 runs, 53 hits, 10 doubles, eight home runs and 37.
Wheatley played two years at NSU after transferring from Delaware Tech. She had a 6-5 career record in 108.2 innings pitched. A Seaford, Del., native, she made 34 appearances with seven starts and had a 3.35 career ERA.
The Spartans are expected to return 12 players for the 2015 season.
