NORFOLK, Va. – Howard scored a run in the bottom of the seventh to win an elimination game against the Norfolk State University softball team at the 2022 MEAC Softball Championships on Friday evening to end the Spartans' season. NSU finishes the year with a 34-23 record after winning the morning elimination game against Coppin State, 3-1.
In first game of the day, the Spartans never trailed against the Eagles scoring a run in the first inning. Alison Guckin led off with a single down the left field line and stole second. A groundout by Tuli Iosefa allowed Guckin to reach third before she scored on a passed ball.
CSU answered back in the top of the second with a single run to tie the game up at 1-1. Both teams went scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Kenna Higa scored after hitting a single to center field. She advanced to third when Gabby Vaughan hit a double down the right field line and scored on a Lily Potter single to center, putting NSU up, 2-1.
Lauren Sheehan would score an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth after singling up the middle. She advanced to second on a Cam Andersen pinch hit single through the left side. Two wild pitches later, the Spartans went ahead 3-1. Holding the Eagles scoreless the final two innings allowed the Spartans reach the evening game against the Bison.
Originally scheduled for noon, a four-hour plus rain delay pushed the game to a 4:18 p.m. start time.
The Bison got on the scoreboard first with a trio of runs in the bottom of the first. HU scored the runs on two hits and a Spartan error. However the lead did not last long as the Spartans would answer back immediately in the top of the second.
Higa was hit by a pitch with a 2-1 count and reached third on a single by Sheehan and throwing error by the center fielder. Loren Hudson hit a deep sacrifice fly to center field that scored Higa and allowed Sheehan to reach third. A throwing error by the shortstop allowed Andersen to reach first and Sheehan to score. Victoria Taylor came in and pinch ran for Andersen and reached second a single by Alison Guckin. Both Taylor and Guckin advanced a base on a passed ball. A third Bison error allowed Iosefa to reach first and Taylor to score, evening the score at 3-3. With the bases loaded, Potter was the second Spartan to be hit by a pitch, but this one allowed Guckin to give the Spartans the lead after two innings.
It wasn't until the fourth before either team added to the scoreboard when Iosefa came around after walking to give the Spartans a two-run cushion, 5-3. Howard got the run back in the bottom of the frame after a hit batter eventually came around and scored on a passed ball. The Bison tied the game up at five in the bottom of the fifth when Lalani Ricks stole home on a miscue by the Spartans.
NSU jumped back in front by two in the top of the sixth when Iosefa led off with a single to the pitcher and Yrral Davis doubled to right field to put runners in scoring position with just one out. Potter followed up with her own double down the left field line scoring both Davis and Iosefa, putting the Spartans ahead 7-5.
Howard used two hits in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game up for the third time. After the Spartans went three up, three down in the top of the seventh, the Bison scored the game-winning run off a single to center field and get the victory, 8-7.
The Spartans conclude the 2022 season with the loss in the tournament.
