Morgan State Box
Howard Box
Severn, Md. – The top seeded Lady Pirates of Hampton University went 1-1 during the opening day of the 2007 MEAC Tournament, falling into the loser’s bracket where they will have to win three games on Saturday to advance to Sunday’s championship. Hampton will face North Carolina A&T at 9 a.m.
In game one against Morgan State Angela Balser went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Brittany Davis and Jennifer Gonzales each drove in another run as the Lady Pirates defeated the Bears 5-1.
Hampton got on the board first in the bottom of the second when Balser’s two-run single drove in Gonzales who was hit by a pitch and Jada Jeffries who singled. Shortstop Evelyn Garcia tripled to open the fourth and was immediately brought home on another single by Balser to give the Lady Pirates a 3-0 advantage after four innings played.
The Lady Pirates put the game out of reach in the fifth behind a solo home run by Davis, her ninth of the year, and an RBI single by Gonzales.
Morgan State finally broke through in its final at bat as Karlana Ingram singled to center scoring Carolyn Howard who reached on a fielder’s choice. However, that was all the Bears could muster before Hampton ace Amanda Black close things out with a strikeout.
Black allowed just three hits and one run as she improved to 22-5 on the year. The three hits marked the 17th time this season that the opposition was limited to no more than three base hits.
Game two was a pitcher’s dual between Howard’s Dale McNeal and Hampton’s Black. Both shut down the opposition’s bats as the game remained scoreless heading into the seventh.
The Bison were able to get a runner on third with two outs and the inning appeared to be over when a slow grounded head toward’s Hampton’s Brittany Davis. However, Davis mishandled the ball and the error allowed the winning run to score.
Jada Jeffries was intentionally walked to open the bottom of the seventh for the Lady Pirates, but an attempted sacrifice bunt by Garcia was popped into the air resulting in a double play as pinch runner Joselyn Matthews was thrown out on the play. Black attempted to tie the game with a solid blast to left field, but the ball fell just short of the fence ending the game.
