NORFOLK, Va. – The first weekend in April brings the last home games of the season for Norfolk State softball, which will host Coppin State for a four-game MEAC series. Saturday's doubleheader will also mark Senior Day, as NSU gets set to honor three departing players.
 
Friday's doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. at the NSU Softball Field. Saturday's games begin at noon, with Senior Day recognition beginning at approximately 11:40 a.m. Shelby DesChamps, Jazzmaine Hammond and Skylar Swain will be honored that day.
 
Both live stats and a live video feed will be available for each day.
 
After this weekend, NSU will have only two more weekends of conference play left leading into the MEAC Tournament in mid-May. The Spartans currently own a 10-12 overall record, 3-5 in the league after taking three of four from Howard on March 20-21 in their last games played.
 
Coppin State owns a 1-14 overall record, 1-3 in the MEAC after losing three of four at Delaware State two weekends ago in its last games. The Eagles are hitting .276 as a team, thanks in part in Nia Bowe's league-leading .419 average. Their pitching staff, however, owns a 9.27 ERA, having given up 141 total runs in just 85.1 innings of work.
 
COVID Protocols
Norfolk State home softball games are open to a limited number of fans within the 30 percent capacity limit set forth by the state of Virginia. Spectators are required to wear a mask when on the NSU campus and observe social distance guidelines by keeping members of their household at least six feet away from others. Fans are asked to sit in seats marked with green tape in the bleachers down the left and right field lines at the NSU Softball Field.
 
Senior Salute
The Spartans will honor true seniors Hammond and Swain and sixth-year senior DesChamps, the latter of whom came back for a sixth year after the NCAA granted eligibility relief from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Below is more information on each.
 
DesChamps was named first-team All-MEAC in 2019 and the MEAC Preseason Player of the Year in 2020. She was again named Preseason All-MEAC this year and is a two-time VaSID All-State Team honoree. A career .356 hitter, she ranks 11^th all-time at NSU with 150 career hits. The Virginia Beach native has been a member of the AD Honor Roll and the MEAC All-Academic Team. She graduated with a degree in social work in 2019 and is finishing her master's in social work as well.
 
Hammond was a two-time MEAC Player of the Week in 2020 and was named first-team Preseason All-MEAC this year. She is a career .271 hitter who has started almost every game in the outfield since she arrived on campus. The Detroit native stood 10^th in the nation in stolen bases per game as a sophomore in 2019 and has 64 career swipes to her name along with eight home runs. She is majoring in accounting and has also been a regular member of the AD Honor Roll and the MEAC All-Academic Team.
 
Swain was named third-team All-MEAC in 2019 after going 9-7 with a league-leading 2.36 ERA. She was named Preseason second-team All-MEAC in both 2020 and 2021. The Portsmouth native owns a career 3.13 ERA and has won 21 games in her Spartan career. She has appeared in 225 innings over 57 appearances and has pitched three career shutouts. An AD Honor Roll and MEAC All-Academic Team honoree, she is majoring in pre-professional biology.
 
MEAC Update
With a 3-5 record, NSU is currently chasing Morgan State (4-0) and Delaware State (6-2) in the Northern Division standings. Only the top two teams from each division this year will qualify for the MEAC Tournament.
 
North Carolina A&T (7-1) and North Carolina Central (3-1) currently lead the Southern Division.
 
The Spartans do have the most overall wins in the league. They currently lead the MEAC in ERA (2.73), with Kirsten Greene (1.30) and Alexis Robinson (2.29) ranked first and second, respectively, among pitchers with at least 15 innings thrown.
 
On offense, the Spartans lead the league with 13 home runs, with Tuli Iosefa, Brooke Bond, Gabby Vaughan and Denisha Megginson all tied for the MEAC lead with three. Bond and Vaughan are both tied for first with 16 RBI, and Hammond leads all league players with 13 stolen bases.
 
National Update
The Spartans rank 69^th in the nation in ERA as well as 52^nd in stolen bases per game (1.59). Greene stands 51^st nationally in ERA and 25^th in fewest hits per seven innings (3.46). Another NSU pitcher, Alexis Robinson, sits 22^nd in fewest walks per seven innings (0.83) and 28^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.00).
 
Jade Dixon is the highest ranked Spartan, as she sits fourth in the nation in hit-by-pitch per game (0.50).
 
All-Time History
Norfolk State swept the last meetings with Coppin State in 2019, taking all three games of their MEAC series at NSU that year. The Eagles had won four of six between 2017 and '18, although that only came after NSU had won 14 in a row over CSU from the end of the 2012 season through 2016.
 
The Spartans now lead CSU 52-14 in the all-time series.
 
What's Next
NSU will next head to Orangeburg, South Carolina to take part in the MEAC Round-Up from April 16-18. The Spartans, like every other team in the North, will play every team in the South once during that weekend.