NORFOLK, Va. – With its berth in the MEAC tournament hanging in the balance, the Norfolk State softball team will play its second-to-last conference series of the year this weekend when the Spartans travel to Howard for three games.
The Bison will host NSU for two games on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. and then the final game of the series at 2 p.m. on Sunday. They will be played at the Washington Nationals Youth Academy.
These will mark the last road games of the regular season for the Spartans. Their last nine games – one MEAC series, three non-conference doubleheaders – will be played at home by the end of April.
Although much needs to be worked out among the other teams – NSU has played more conference games than any other team in the league – the Spartans will need a strong showing this weekend. Sitting at 5-7 in the MEAC, they are currently fifth in the Northern Division behind fourth-place Coppin State (7-4). Only the top four teams in each division advance to the MEAC tournament.
Norfolk State also owns a 15-23 overall record. Howard enters the weekend 2-6 in the league as well as 4-31 overall after dropping two games at Drexel on Tuesday. Besides Coppin State, NSU also sits behind Morgan State and Delaware State (both 7-2) as well as Hampton (4-2) in the divisional standings. Hampton still has four MEAC series left, compared to just two for Norfolk State.
In this weekend's schedule, a first-place showdown looms between host Morgan State and Delaware State. Hampton will host Maryland Eastern Shore (0-9), while Coppin State will have the weekend off.
Southern Round-Up
After three weekends of play, Florida A&M is currently in the lead in the Southern Division at 8-1. Bethune-Cookman sits at 6-3 in the league, with Savannah State (3-3) and North Carolina A&T (4-5) currently in third and fourth, respectively.
The HR Department
Over the weekend, junior
Kylee Lopez hit her 10
th home run of the season. She became the third player ever at NSU to hit at least 10 in a season. She joined Lekita Wilson (12, 1997) and Micki Rodriguez (11, 2006). Lopez now has 17 in her career, putting her within five of tying the school record of 22 held by three players.
Measuring Up
Lopez currently ranks second in the MEAC in doubles (13), home runs (10), RBI (34) and total bases (84) as well as fourth in hits (41) and fifth in runs scored (26) and slugging (.712).
Hunter Halford, meanwhile, is tied for the league lead in walks with 17.
She is also now up to fourth in the league in ERA at 2.99 and fourth in opponent batting average (.255).
Kayla Porter is one spot ahead of her at third, with opponents hitting .247 against the freshman.
Lopez also ranks 21
st in the nation in doubles (13) as well as 45
th in home runs (10). She also finds herself up there in total bases (50
th, 84), slugging percentage (78
th, .712) and RBI per game (89
th, 0.89). In the circle, Halford now ranks 12
th nationally in fewest walks per seven innings (0.88) and 36
th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.00).
Howard Scouting
All four of Howard's wins this year have come against MEAC opponents, and in 26 of their 35 games this year, the Bison have scored three or fewer runs. They are hitting .229 as a team, with Trinity Gibbs (.333, 13 runs, 14 doubles, nine RBI) and Kamryn Tillman (.321, 10 runs, seven doubles, 12 RBI) leading the way. Breanna Robinson has scored a team-high 17 runs, and Brooklyn Emory and Alyssa Lavine have each tallied a team-best 17 RBI as well.
In the circle, Mackenzi Steele has started 19 games and owns a 6.26 ERA in 113.0 innings of work, having also given up 54 walks on the year. Desiree Renteria has started an additional eight games and has pitched 37.0 innings with a 5.86 ERA. Teams are hitting .369 against Howard.
Series Update
NSU has won the series five out of the six years the Spartans have been in the North. The past two years, NSU has taken two out of three games. That has improved its all-time record against Howard to 23-13. The Spartans also swept the series each year from 2013-15 after Howard won two of three in 2012.
Up Next
NSU will play back-to-back home doubleheaders during the middle of next week, first against North Carolina Central on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and then the following day against Radford at 3 p.m.
