BALTIMORE, Md. – Starter Megan Przeslawski worked out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the seventh to preserve a 5-4 win over Coppin State on Thursday afternoon in game 2 of a MEAC doubleheader at the CSU Softball Field. The Norfolk State softball team fell in game 1 by the same 5-4 score on a walk-off hit by the Eagles.
 
NSU shook off the disappointment of that loss to salvage the final game of the series. Freshman Meaghan Barfield hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning of game 2 to take a 5-3 lead. CSU scored a run in the seventh and had the bases loaded with two outs, but Przeslawski recorded the last out herself on a popup back to the circle.
 
That came after CSU's Nicole Ullman hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh to give the Eagles the walk-off victory in game 1.
 
Both teams finished the day with identical 5-10 MEAC records. NSU rans its overall mark to 12-21, while CSU improved to 8-39. The two teams are currently in a tie for fourth in the Northern Division, with only the top four teams advancing to the MEAC tournament. The Spartans will need at least one win this weekend in their final conference series to have a shot of finishing as the No. 4 seed. Norfolk State would also need Coppin State to lose all three games to Morgan State and for Maryland Eastern Shore (4-11) to win no more than one game in its three-game series against Howard.
 
The Spartans got to that point after scoring three runs in the first two innings of game 2. Barfield's two-run homer in the fifth, her third long ball of the season, made it 5-3.
 
It ultimately came down to the seventh, however. CSU's Megan Narvaez doubled to lead off the frame, and after NSU got the next two outs, a pair of walks and a single scored one run while loading the bases. Przeslawski then induced a popup from Haley Bravo to hold on to the win.
 
Przeslawski gave up 10 hits and four earned runs in all seven innings. The Eagles, like NSU, left nine runners on base.
 
The Spartans had the early advantage in game 2 after senior Devon Bitler singled in the first and eventually scored on a wild pitch. After leaving the bases loaded in the opening frame, NSU scored two more runs in the second. Bitler singled with two outs and later scored on an RBI single from junior Jaylene Pryor. Senior Kayla McNair followed with the team's fourth straight hit for a 3-0 lead as NSU chased CSU starter Dakota Gartrell from the game.
 
Coppin State got all three runs back in the third on a trio of RBI singles, part of a five-hit barrage in the inning. Barfield's two-run shot to center field in the fifth proved to be the winning runs.
 
Bitler hit 2-for-4 with two runs scored, while Pryor batted 3-for-4. Patricia Soria went 3-for-4 with two RBI for the Eagles.
 
In game 1, Barfield gave NSU a short-lived 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single. Just a few moments later, Narvaez tied it up at 1-1 after depositing the first pitch in the bottom of the first over the right field fence.
 
In the third, Camille Ochoa followed a walk and a single with a two-run double, putting the Eagles ahead 3-1. They added another run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly, just one batter after NSU had thrown out a runner at home on Ochoa's second double of the game.
 
Then in the sixth, NSU made it interesting. McNair doubled to lead off the inning, and junior Julianne Gillo eventually hit a two-run double into the gap in left center with two outs to cut the deficit to 4-3. Gillo then scored on senior Hannah Haustein's RBI single to make it 4-4 before Ullman ended the game on a 2-2 count in the bottom of the seventh.
 
Madison Didion gave up seven hits and four runs, three earned, with five strikeouts in all seven innings to earn the win for the Eagles. She also made a relief appearance in game 2 and allowed just four hits and two earned runs in 5.1 innings of work.
 
Ochoa and Narvaez each had a pair of hits and combined to score three runs and drive in three in that game 1 win for the Eagles.
 
Pryor finished 4-for-6 on the day.
 
NSU will head to Hampton on Saturday to start a three-game series in the Battle of the Bay. Saturday's doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. from the HU Softball Stadium.