WASHINGTON (March 30, 2019) --- Howard University softball won both games in today's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) doubleheader against the Delaware State Hornets. This is the first series win against Delaware State since 2010.
The Bison took a 6-4 win in game one and an 8-5 win in game two.
"Tracy pitched phenomenally in that first game and that really set the tone. Mackenzi followed with another great performance," said head coach
Tori Tyson.
Howard's Tracey Mosley pitched to open the game. In the first inning Delaware State had a two-run single by Vanessa Baroon. Jade King and Jasmine Meldoza scored to put the Hornets on the board 2-0.
With Delaware's Brianna Baker pitching at the bottom of the first,
Camille Navarro singled through the right side for two RBIs with
Kalita Dennis and
Kamryn Tillman scoring.
Howard was down 4-2 in the sixth inning until Dennis hit a centerfield home run to put the Bison within one, 3-2.
Trinity Gibbs doubled to left center with
Breanna Robinson and
Ayana Sallee scoring.
The successful sixth inning gave the Bison great positioning for its 6-4 win over the Hornets.
Game two opened with the Hornets' catcher Jaelyn Baker hitting a two-run homer to left center. Baker and King gave the Hornets an early 2-0 lead. Hot off of a home run in the first, Howard's Dennis hit one centerfield, out of the park. The home run tied the game 2-2 with
Noel Merritt scoring.
The Hornets answered with Jonah Cunnigan tripling to right center for Taylor Leydig to score. Delaware took a 3-2 lead.
Not to be outdone, Bison's Dennis singled up the middle in the third inning with
Noel Merritt scoring to tie, 3-3. The Bison gained the lead after Sallee grounded to third base for a
Zaria Hall run, 4-3.
"Kalita was being Kalita and she's unbelievable," expressed Tyson. "Most importantly we did the little things to set Kalita up to win a ballgame for us a couple of times. I'm very proud of her performance."
In the fifth inning, Delaware capitalized off of Howard errors. The Hornets' two runs boosted them to 5-4.
When Howard returned to bat they were prepared to makeup for those errors. The Bison scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth, giving them an 8-5 advantage.
Mackenzi Steele and the Bison were able to stop the Hornets at the top of the sixth to seal the 8-5 win.
"This is my first two series win. We are not going to settle though, we are definitely going for the sweep. Everything wasn't clean but what we did a good job of today was responding to our own failures," said Tyson. "We are still very young so this is exciting but we are not done."
Dennis was three-for-three in game two to give her five hits in six at bats in the doubleheader. She had a home run in each game.
The Bison (9-17; 3-0 MEAC) and the Hornets (5-18; 2-3 MEAC) will meet for the final game of the series on Sunday. Start time is noon at the Washington Nationals Youth Academy.
