The Morgan State softball team broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and then held off the Hampton Pirates for a 2-1 victory in the losers’ bracket of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday afternoon at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex.

For the second consecutive season, Hampton (21-18), which entered the tournament as the top team in the MEAC North Division was bounced after just two games. Jada Jeffries led the Lady Pirates with a 2-for-3 performance and a RBI, while Brittany Davis added a hit in three at bats and scored Hampton’s lone run.

For Morgan State (15-20), the Lady Bears, who stayed alive in the tournament, recorded its first win in five tries this season, as well as their first win over Hampton in over three years. The Lady Bears finished the game scoring two runs on two hits, while Hampton tallied six hits, scoring just one run.

After not capitalizing on several opportunities early in the game, the Lady Bears finally got on the board with two runs in the fifth inning. Carissa Washington’s fielder’s choice drove in the first run of the inning, as Megan Jimenez scored. Freshman pitcher Megan Johnson then scored the second run on a wild pitch to give Morgan a 2-0 lead.

Hampton got a run back in the sixth inning when Davis scored on a two-out single hit up the middle by Jeffries, to cut the deficit in half at 2-1.

Morgan State was led by Johnson, who finished 2-for-2 at the plate with a run scored, while pitching a complete game, surrendering a run on six hits and recording six strikeouts. The Lady Pirates’ Amanda Black was charged with the loss and fell to 18-11 on the season. Black surrendered two runs on two hits, two walks and had a strikeout in six innings pitched.

The Lady Bears, who came into the tournament as the No. 4 seed in the MEAC North Division, will face the loser of the Delaware State/Norfolk State game on Friday, May 9 at 9 a.m.

? Copyright 2007 meacsports.com