NORFOLK, Va. – For the second time this year, the Norfolk State softball team will get ready to host the Spartan/Pirate Classic in conjunction with Hampton. This weekend's tournament will feature 20 games altogether spread out over three days at both schools.
NSU will host 11 of those games beginning on Friday at 9 a.m. The Spartans will take on Drexel to start the tournament, followed by Hofstra immediately afterwards. Albany, Iona, Morgan State and South Carolina State will also make appearances at the NSU Softball Field throughout the weekend.
Live stats will be available for every game of the tournament at NSU. In addition, live video for each game at NSU is available through the department's
video streaming link.
Below is the complete schedule of games at both NSU and Hampton:
At NSU
Friday
9:00 a.m. NSU vs. Drexel
11:15 a.m. NSU vs. Hofstra
1:30 p.m. Albany vs. Drexel
3:45 p.m. Albany vs. Hofstra
Saturday
9:00 a.m. Iona vs. Hofstra
11:15 a.m. Morgan State vs. Hofstra
1:30 p.m. Morgan State vs. SCSU
3:45 p.m. NSU vs. SCSU
Sunday
10:00 a.m. Morgan State vs. Iona
12:30 p.m. NSU vs. Albany
2:30 p.m. NSU vs. Iona
At Hampton
Friday
10:00 a.m. Morgan State vs SCSU
12:15 a.m. Morgan State vs. Mount St. Mary's
2:30 p.m. Hampton University vs. SCSU
Saturday
9:00 a.m. Mount St. Mary's vs. Albany
11:15 a.m. Drexel vs. Albany
1:30 p.m. Hampton University vs. Drexel
3:30 p.m. Hampton University vs. Iona
Sunday
10:00 a.m. SCSU vs. Drexel
12:30 p.m. Hampton University vs. Hofstra
NSU and Hampton hosted the same tournament two week ago, a rain-shortened version that featured four teams in addition to the two hosts.
The Spartans enter this weekend 6-8 overall after splitting a doubleheader at North Carolina Central on Tuesday. NSU dropped the first game 8-7 after the Eagles scored six runs over the final two innings, but the Spartans came back to win game 2 by a 10-3 margin.
Drexel (4-6), Albany (3-4), Hofstra (3-10), Iona (0-4), South Carolina State (0-5), and Morgan State (0-10) round out the field.
The games will mark the last tournament for NSU during the regular season. The Spartans host North Carolina A&T on March 15 and play at doubleheader at Radford on March 20 before beginning MEAC play later this month.
The Spartans come into the Spartan/Pirate Classic hitting .295 as a team. Junior
Shelby DesChamps leads the way at .481, the highest average in the league. She also ranks first in the MEAC in runs with 17 (seven more than the next highest player) and on-base percentage at .534.
Sophomore
Tuli Iosefa paces the MEAC in RBI (13) and doubles (6) while hitting .356. Other major contributors for NSU include freshmen
Makenna Heimann (.400, eight runs) and
Gabby Vaughan (.244, 12 RBI), senior
Kylee Lopez (.341, nine RBI) and sophomore
Jazzmaine Hammond (.268, eight runs, 10 stolen bases).
Hammond leads the league in stolen bases, and Vaughan is second behind Iosefa in RBI. Lopez, meanwhile, is still one home run away from tying the school's career record of 22.
Despite a 2-5 record, senior
Hunter Halford owns a 2.79 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 47.2 innings of work. She has pitched half of the team's 95.0 total innings on the year.