DOVER, Del. – The Norfolk State softball team inched closer to its first-ever division title on Friday morning at Delaware State's Hornets' Nest field, earning a sweep of DSU in a MEAC doubleheader, 9-5 and 6-1.
 
The Spartans overcame a pair of 10-hit games by the Hornets to improve to 10-1 in the MEAC Northern Division. They entered the day two games ahead of second place Morgan State with six games left in the regular season.
 
Norfolk State also ran its overall record to 23-15, guaranteeing a winning record for the fourth time as a Division I program. They got to that point on Friday thanks to a pair of five-run innings in both games.
 
The Spartans finished with 12 hits in the first game and 10 more in the second. Freshman Skylar Swain improved to 8-5 on the year in game 2 after allowing all 10 hits but just one unearned run with five strikeouts in seven innings of work. Senior Hunter Halford (12-9) gave up 10 hits and five earned runs in seven innings in the first contest to get the win as well.
 
Delaware State dropped to 6-30 overall and 3-8 in the league.
 
That first game saw five different Spartans finish with two hits in the contest. Senior Kylee Lopez hit 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI, and freshman Lily Potter also batted 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI as well.
 
NSU got going with five runs in the first. Junior Shelby DesChamps singled to lead off the game and scored when Lopez reached on an error. Sophomore Tuli Iosefa followed with an RBI single, and two outs later sophomore Jazzmaine Hammond and freshman Denisha Megginson singled for a 3-0 lead. Both players then came home when Potter doubled down the left field line.
 
But DSU responded, getting four hits in the bottom of the first as part of a four-run frame. Leading 5-4, NSU got two runs back when DesChamps and Lopez hit RBI singles with two outs in the fourth. An RBI single by DSU's Vanessa Barron then made it 7-5 in the sixth.
 
NSU got a little more cushion, as Lopez led off the seventh with a solo homer to center, and Halford and Hammond singled later in the inning for the final four-run margin.
 
DesChamps batted 2-for-4 with a pair of runs, and Hammond and Megginson each had two hits as well in the first contest.
 
Hammond and freshman Gabby Vaughan each drove in three runs in game 2. And again, a five-run inning proved to be too much for DSU.
 
Vaughan hit an RBI single in the first to score DesChamps, and two innings later the Spartans made it 6-0. Lopez singled with one out in the third and moved to third base on a double by Iosefa. Vaughan then doubled both home, and Halford followed with a single after a pitching change to again put two runners on base.
 
Hammond singled both home and also scored during the same play thanks to an error on the DSU right fielder. Swain, meanwhile, allowed just the one unearned run in the fifth, that coming on a two-out error. The Hornets had two hits in both the sixth and seventh innings but were unable to push another run across.
 
Vaughan batted 3-for-4, and Hammond and Lopez each had two hits as well. Lopez and Hammond had four hits on the day.
 
NSU and DSU will play the third game of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m.