NORFOLK, Va. – The first of two straight weekends on the road finds the Norfolk State softball team at perennial Northern Division power Delaware State this Friday and Saturday. The two teams will play twice on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. and then once on Sunday at noon. The series has been moved from DSU's campus to the Pyle Softball Complex in Frankford, Delaware.
 
It will mark the second weekend of MEAC play for the teams in the North. Including this series, the Spartans will be on the road three of the next four weekends, all in conference.
 
NSU will be facing one of the most consistent teams in the league. Delaware State has finished either first or second in the division each of the last four years. The Hornets have also placed in the top 2 nine of the last 10 years. This season, they sit 3-0 after sweeping Maryland Eastern Shore last weekend on the road, scoring a total of 38 runs in the three games. DSU owns a 5-16 overall mark after playing a fairly ambitious non-conference schedule.
 
NSU, meanwhile, dropped two of three last weekend to Coppin State to start conference play. The Spartans carry an 11-18 overall record into the series with DSU.
 
Junior college teammates now with NSU, seniors Jaylene Pryor and Julianne Gillo had big weekends against CSU. Pryor batted 6-for-9, while Gillo hit 5-for-7 with a walk and a sacrifice. Pryor, in fact, has gone 8-for-13 over her last four games to raise her average up to .347, tops among active players.
 
Junior Kylee Lopez is hitting .333 and leads the team with 19 runs, 10 doubles, seven home runs and 25 RBI. Junior Hunter Halford (.299) and senior Seana Moriarty (.269) have also combined for 22 RBI this year.
 
Halford and freshman Skylar Swain have each started 10 games this year. Swain owns a 5-5 record with a 3.43 ERA in 53.0 innings of work, while Halford's ERA is slightly better at 3.35 in 60.2 innings.
 
Where Does NSU Sit in the MEAC
In home runs, the Spartans are first with 20, four more than any other team in the league. In fact, aside from Bethune-Cookman with 16, the only other team in double digits is DSU with 10. The Spartans also lead the league in doubles (38) and are second in runs (133) and hits (206). NSU is also tied for first with B-CU in walks (75).
 
Lopez now paces the league in doubles (10) while sitting second in home runs (7), RBI (25) and total bases (61). She is also fifth in runs scored (19) and sixth in slugging (.678). Halford, meanwhile, is tied for second in walks with 13. In the circle, she is fifth in ERA (3.35), with Swain sixth at 3.43.
 
How About Nationally
The Spartans rank No. 54 in the nation in stolen bases per game (1.45) as well as 86^th in doubles (1.31) and 87^th in home runs (0.69). They do lead the nation in one peculiar category. NSU pitchers have hit just two batters all year, the lowest among all 296 teams.
 
Individually, Lopez is now 23^rd in doubles with 10 and 45^th in home runs with seven. She is also No. 61 in total bases with 61. Halford ranks 22^nd in walks allowed per seven innings at 0.92 and is also 74^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.13).
 
More on the Hornets
DSU is now up to .260 as a team after its big weekend at Maryland Eastern Shore. Desiree Moreno leads the way with a .397 average and 12 runs, five home runs and 15 RBI. Khaliyah Flournory (.381) and Kaleigh Berry (.346) are also hitting above .300, and both have a team-leading 13 runs to their ledger. Along with Moreno, Vanessa Washington has also been a run producer for the Hornets to the tune of four homers and 13 RBI.
 
The Hornets lost their first 13 games of the year, scoring less than two runs per game during that time. Their team ERA also sits at 6.29, although Hannah Shields has thrown 66.0 innings and has three of the team's five wins with a 3.92 ERA. Alexis Goldsby has started 11 games and owns a 7.21 ERA in 43.2 innings of work.
 
Latest in the Series
Delaware State has pulled ahead of NSU recently in the all-time series, now 27-24 in favor of the Hornets. DSU has won the series each of the last four years, going 10-3 against the Spartans during that time.
 
Up Next
NSU will head back up the same direction from where it came, this time stopping in Princess Anne, Maryland to take on Maryland Eastern Shore on April 30 and 31.