BALTIMORE, Md. – The Hampton University softball team will open Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play on Saturday and Sunday, taking on Morgan State in a three-game series at Lois T. Murray Field.

The two teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m., before squaring off again on Sunday at 12 p.m.

The Lady Pirates (13-18) won two games at the UMBC Spring Classic this past weekend, beating Princeton 5-4 and host Maryland Baltimore County 14-0. In all, Hampton has won nine of its last 17 games.

Hampton was picked to finish third in the MEAC Northern Division this season, returning five starters and eight letterwinners from last year's squad – a team that won 25 games and advanced to the semifinals of the MEAC Tournament.

Junior Margaret Wilkins (Tustin, Calif.) leads the team with a .381 batting average so far this season, recording a team-high 40 hits in 105 at-bats. She is also tied for the team lead with six doubles, and she has hit a team-best four home runs.

Wilkins has hit safely in 14 of her last 16 games.

Freshman Taylor McCoy (Riverview, Fla.) is batting .364 this season, and freshman Bobbi Langlois (Medina, Ohio) is driving in a team-high 20 runs.

Sophomore Jailynn Jackson (Virginia Beach, Va.) is 10-8 with a 3.23 ERA so far this season, recording 122 strikeouts in 123.2 innings pitched. She struck out a career-high 13 batters at Towson on March 13, and she has at least five strikeouts in 12 of her last 14 appearances.

The Lady Pirates are 61-27 all-time against Morgan State, and Hampton took two out of three games against the Lady Bears last season. Overall, Hampton has won seven of the last 10 meetings against Morgan State – including a three-game sweep in 2010.

For more information on Hampton University softball, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.