NORFOLK, Va. – After concluding the regular season with its 31^st win on the year, the Norfolk State softball team now turns its attention to the 2022 MEAC Softball Championship being hosted at the NSU Softball Field for the second year in a row. The tournament takes place Wednesday, May 11 through Saturday, May 14.

The Spartans finished the MEAC regular season with a 16-5 conference record and have secure the No. 3 seed in the tournament. They will face off against No. 6 seed Coppin State on Wednesday at 12 noon with the winner advancing to take on No. 2 seed Howard at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Morgan State won the MEAC Regular Season with a 18-3 conference record and will be the No.1 seed in the tournament. The Bears will face the winner of the No. 4 seed Maryland Eastern Shore and No. 5 North Carolina Central contest at 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The game between the Hawks and Eagles will open the championship at 9 a.m. on May 11.

Tickets for the 2022 MEAC Tournament are available here. An All-Tournament pass is $35 with single-day tickets selling for $10 each. Children 6 and younger are admitted free.

NSU vs. MEAC Tournament On Deck

• Tuli Iosefa tied the career home run record with her 29^th of her career and ninth on the season. The mark ties the mark set by Kylee Lopez from 2016-19. Iosefa has been a driving force behind a strong 2022 season for the Spartan softball program. Iosefa is batting .362 with a MEAC-high nine home runs and 40 runs batted in for NSU, which is 31-21 overall and 16-5 in the MEAC. She was a preseason All-MEAC first-team selection after landing on the league's All-MEAC team at the end of the 2021 season as well.
• Kenna Higa is one of the top freshmen in the MEAC this season. She is hitting .353 for the year to go along with 41 hits with 12 doubles and second on the team and MEAC with eight home runs. She has been named the MEAC Rookie of the Week five times this year along with one MEAC Player of the Week.
• Two of arguably the best pitchers in the MEAC this season Alexis Robinson led the conference in total wins with 16 while Joana Vallejo finished the regular season with 105 strikeouts. Both Spartans finished with two saves with Robinson finishing with five complete games and Vallejo finishing with three. Both had been named MEAC Pitcher of the Week at least once this season.
• Gabby Vaughan, along with Higa and Iosefa, was one of the best power hitters in the conference. Batting .296, she finished the regular season with 40 hits with 12 doubles, two triples and six home runs.
• The outfield has been a key to NSU's defense this season. Alison Guckin, who has played most of the season in left field, broke the program's Division I record for stolen bases in a season and currently has 35. Imani Moore leads the team with a .393 batting average and with 48 hits. She has hit seven doubles and three triples. In right field, Yrral Davis has a .291 batting average and has hit six doubles, two triples, and a home run. For the season, the three have only committed 10 errors combined.
• The 31 wins this season ties a program record for the Division I era for wins in a season. The Spartans reached the milestone with a 4-3 win over Maryland Eastern Shore in the regular season finale.
• Morgan State comes into tournament on a 14-game winning streak and is currently 29-13 overall. With a 18-3 MEAC record they are the No. 1 seed. The Bears won the series with NSU 2-1 with the Spartans winning 6-5 in the series opener. Mia Ewell leads the team with a .322 batting average with 46 hits, 10 doubles, and seven triples. Anaya Hunte leads the Bears in the circle with a 14-3 record with 130 strikeouts in 105.2 innings pitched.
• The Spartans took two of three games from Howard in the series this season in Washington, D.C. Howard finished the regular season with a 27-21 overall record and a 17-4 MEAC record to secure the No. 2 seed. Alyssa Vasquez has the best batting average on the Bison team with a .374 with 14 doubles and five home runs. Analise De La Roca leads the team with a 3.03 ERA and 13-6 record in the circle.
• The Hawks of Maryland Eastern Shore took two of three games from the Spartans to close out the regular season to secure the No. 4 seed in the tournament. UMES finished the season with an 18-31 record overall and 13-8 in the MEAC. Tatum Kresley leads the Hawks offensively with a .437 batting average with 73 hits including two doubles and five triples. She also leads the team with 37 stolen bases. Nasya Goodman has the most wins in the circle for UMES with eight. In 128.1 innings pitched, she has picked up 65 strikeouts.
• North Carolina Central earned the No. 5 seed after going 11-34 overall and 8-13 in the MEAC. The Spartans swept the three games against the Eagles at home earlier this year. Jaden Davis leads the team with a .319 average with four doubles and two home runs. Ashanti Eubanks leads NCCU with seven wins and a 6.69 ERA. In 105.2 innings of work, she has collected 72 strikeouts.
• Coppin State comes into the game against the Spartans with a 7-35 overall record and 7-14 in the MEAC. After starting 0-28 on the season, the Eagles finished an even 5-5 over their final 10 games to make the tournament. NSU scored seven runs in each of the three games against CSU earlier this season, winning all three. Vanessa Carrizosa leads the team with a .311 batting average while Brissa Alvarado has nine doubles, two triples, and a team-leading three home runs.