Softball 5/9/2008 4:00:00 AM MEAC Media Relations

Norfolk State Defeats Howard to Advance to MEAC Championship

After dropping to the loser's bracket of the MEAC Tournament following a 7-6 loss to Delaware State on Thursday night, the Norfolk State softball team was faced with the unenviable task of having to win three times on Friday to advance to Saturday's championship round.

But the Spartans (23-32) stared down those odds and pulled off the
improbable. After a nail-biting 2-1, 10-inning win over Morgan State on
Friday morning in which Ky Brown pitched a gem, NSU defeated Bethune-Cookman 7-4 and then defending conference champion Howard 6-1 on Friday afternoon to advance to Saturday's championship round against Delaware State.

NSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Bethune-Cookman (21-36) on a two-out, two-run double by Rebecca Barnes in the third inning. But the Wildcats answered when Brandi Holley hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning for a 3-2 lead.

But NSU rallied with a four-run fifth to take the lead for good. NSU got just one hit in the frame, a lead-off triple by Gladys Cabeza, but
took advantage of some B-CU miscues to grab a 6-3 lead. Barnes, Sarah Wittwer and Meghan Ramsey knocked in runs with fielder's choices in the inning, which included an error and two passed balls.

Micki Rodriguez got the win. She gave up three earned runs over the final four innings.

Against Howard, Brown allowed just one earned run over five innings to earn the win against one of the more potent offenses in the conference. Brown (10-8) is 3-1 spanning 31.1 innings and five games in the tournament.

Rodriguez pitched the final two innings scoreless to close out the win.

The Spartans scored all their runs in the first four innings. Rodriguez had a two-out, two-run single in the second and Barnes stroked a two-run double in the fourth. Lewis, Cabeza and Brianeisha Eure had two
hits each on the night. Howard (23-17) was limited to seven hits.

Barnes was 3-for-7 with five RBI in the two afternoon games. Cabeza and Lewis were each 4-for-7 over those two contests, with Cabeza scoring four times.

NSU must beat the Hornets twice on Saturday to win the school's first-ever MEAC softball title. The championship round gets underway at 1 p.m. This is the Spartans' first MEAC softball championship round appearance since 2000,when they fell to Bethune-Cookman.