BALTIMORE, MD --- Over the weekend, the Howard softball team traveled up the road to Maryland to take on felllow Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opponent Morgan State University. The Lady Bison (14-24, 8-7 MEAC) took 2-of-3 from the Lady Bears (4-26, 3-8 MEAC) to win the series and remain in the hunt for a berth in the 2015 MEAC Tournament.

APRIL 18
Howard 4, Morgan 7

After three scoreless innings between the two teams, Howard would get on the board first in the top of the fourth inning after senior Jenny Ly hit a RBI single down the left field line to take a 1-0 lead.

Sophomore Imani Ballard added to the total in the next inning when she hit a two-out, two-run home run to center field to drive in Ly and herself.

Morgan State would quickly even the score at 3-3 in the bottom half of the inning off a Howard wild pitch and a two-run RBI double.

The difference in the game came in the bottom of the sixth, as three RBI singles brought home four more runs for the Lady Bears.

Howard would score another run thanks to a RBI single by Ballard but couldn't come all the way back.

Howard 4, Morgan 2

While the Lady Bison scored the same amount of runs as they did in Game 1, the result from Saturday's doubleheader finale was quite different.

MSU would score first in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of an error by pitcher Alex Flynn.

Back-to-back two run innings gave Howard enough separation for the victory. In the top of the fourth, Ly hit a two-run double that brought home Ballard and redshirt junior Jasmine Gammons for a 2-1 lead. In the fifth, a solo home run by sophomore Deja Henderson and a MSU error on a Ballard at-bat put the Lady Bison up 4-1.

Morgan State hit a RBI double in the seventh for the final run of the game.


APRIL 19
Howard 16, Morgan 14

The series finale ended up being one of the wildest of head coach Lauren McCoy's tenure. The 16 runs tied the team's mark for highest total against a Division I opponent in McCoy's six seasons - HU won 16-0 over UMES on March 27, 2010 in McCoy's first season with team - and was the second highest amount scored in a game this season (20 runs against Elizabeth City State on March 17).

Also, the combined 30 runs were easily the highest combined total of the season, passing the 23 from the ECSU win (20-3).

All but one player that registered at least one at-bat scored a run and every player with an at-bat had at least one RBI.

Here is a rundown of the scoring in this epic contest:

Top 1: Gammons sacrifice bunt (1-0 HU)
Bot 1: Pitpit RBI double, Constancia RBI single (2-1 MSU)
Top 2: Davis RBI walk, Ballard two-run RBI single, Davis score on throwing error (5-2 HU)
Bot 2: Vosper three-run HR, Constancia two-run RBI double, Salvas two-run RBI single (9-5 MSU)
Top 3: Henderson RBI single, A. Flynn two-run RBI double (9-8 MSU)
Top 4: Ly solo HR (tied 9-9)
Top 5: Henderson scores off error (10-9 HU)
Top 7: Estes two-run RBI triple, Ballard sacrifice fly, Poindexter two-run RBI double, Banks RBI single (16-9 HU)
Bot 7: Salvas scores off error, Pitpit three-run HR, Salvas RBI single


NEXT UP: Howard will conclude the regular season with a three-game series on the road against Delaware State University. The Lady Bison will take on the Lady Hornets in a doubleheader on Saturday, April 25 starting at 1 p.m. and a single game on Sunday, April 26 at 1 p.m. A series win would guarantee a conference record of .500 or better for Howard for the first time since 2010.