NORFOLK, Va. – After beginning the year at home for the first three weekends, the Norfolk State softball team will get on the bus this week for its first road games of the year and the start of MEAC play. NSU will travel to Baltimore this weekend to take on Morgan State.
 
The Spartans and Bears will play a pair of doubleheaders over the weekend. Saturday's doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m., and Sunday's twinbill begins at noon at MSU's Lois T. Murray Field. New this year, all MEAC series will consist of four games instead of the usual three.
 
NSU was scheduled to play four non-conference games at Radford on Wednesday and Thursday, but those games have been postponed with a make-up date to be announced later.
 
The Spartans will head into this weekend's games at MSU with plenty of momentum after taking three of four against Cleveland State this past weekend at home. That improved their overall record to 7-7, the best in the MEAC. All three wins came in walk-off fashion, including in the 10^th inning in the last game of the series on Saturday.
 
Morgan State has been hit by plenty of bad luck, as its first four weekends of the season were either cancelled or postponed for one reason or another. The Bears finally played their first games of the year on Wednesday when they split a doubleheader at home against Kutztown.
 
Spartans on the Rise
The Spartans had a stellar weekend against Cleveland State, hitting .336 as a team in those four games. NSU is now up to a .272 team batting average, with five regular players above .300 and three more above .270.
 
Senior Tuli Iosefa hit 6-for-11 over the weekend and is now up to a team-leading .394 average with three home runs and 12 RBI. Jade Dixon (.333), Imani Moore (.324), Gabby Vaughan (.317) and Brooke Bond (.306) are also above .300 on the year. Vaughan and Bond both have eight RBI to rank second on the team behind Iosefa, and Bond and Dixon both have scored a team-high nine runs.
 
Vaughan and Bond each hit walk-off singles on Saturday as NSU swept day 2's doubleheader. Sophomore Cam Andersen did the same on Friday in game 1 with a double to left field as NSU split those day's games with Cleveland State.
 
The Spartans now own a 3.09 ERA. Kirsten Greene (1.78 ERA, 22 strikeouts in 19.2 innings) and Alexis Robinson (1.93 ERA, 23 strikeouts in 25.1 innings) have been two of the catalysts for the Spartans in the circle so far. Robinson has hit a streak of bad luck at times, as she owns a 1-4 record despite that sub-2.00 ERA. Only seven of the 20 runs she has surrendered have been earned. Andersen has struck out 29 in 32.2 innings and carries a 3.64 ERA with a 4-1 record.
 
Morgan State/MEAC Update
Morgan State was picked to finish third in the MEAC Northern Division this year behind NSU and Howard, who was picked just ahead of the Spartans for first place in the division. The Bears received two first-place votes, while NSU (9) and Howard (8) got the rest in this year's preseason voting. Delaware State was picked to finish fourth, and Coppin State fifth.
 
A total of 15 games this year for Morgan State have been cancelled or postponed during the first month of the season.
 
Goodbye Home
NSU has just two more home weekends the rest of the year. The Spartans will be on the road for four weekends in addition to a possible rescheduled series at Radford later in the year. By finishing in the top 2 in the division, they would have the benefit of competing for a MEAC title on their home field in mid-May. This year's MEAC Championship will take place from May 13-15 at the NSU Softball Field.
 
All-Time History
Norfolk State carries a 31-18 all-time record against Morgan State into this weekend's series. The teams last met in 2019, when NSU won two of three in their MEAC series in Baltimore. The Bears had won six straight prior to that.
 
What's Next
Following this weekend's games at Morgan State, NSU will return home to host Howard on March 20-21 at the NSU Softball Field. The Spartans' only other home games after that take place on April 2-3 against Coppin State.