Box Score | Championship Central

NORFOLK, Va., May 11, 2022 – With the game tied 8-8 in the bottom of the eighth inning, Alyssa Vasquez blasted a three-run walk-off home run to give No. 2 Howard an 11-8 win over No. 3 Norfolk State on Wednesday night in the 2022 MEAC Softball Championship.
 
With anticipated rain and thunderstorms in the Norfolk area, Thursday’s game schedule has been adjusted. No. 6 Coppin State will face off with No. 5 North Carolina Central at 9 a.m., while Norfolk State will play No. 4 Maryland Eastern Shore at 12 p.m. Howard will take on top-seeded Morgan State at 3 p.m.
 
Battling cold and rainy conditions, Howard (28-21) led 5-1 after the first inning. Norfolk State (32-22) cut the lead to two, 5-3, in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Yrral Davis. Another big hit by Davis in the fifth inning, this time a double to center field, added another run for NSU. The Spartans picked up three more runs in the frame to take a 7-5 lead heading into the sixth.
 
Loren Hudson hit a single up the middle to bring in Davis in the sixth to extend the Spartans’ lead to three (8-5).
 
Sidney Fletcher led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo homer to left center field. Two batters later, Camille Navarro drove in another run to get Howard within one. Vazquez then hit an RBI double to right center to tie things up at 8-all.
 
The Spartans could not generate any runs in the last two innings and Vasquez put the game away with her long ball in the bottom of the eighth.
 
For the game, Vasquez went 3-for-5 with six RBIs and two runs for Howard. Kalita Dennis was 3-for-4 with a run and three RBIs. Sydney Hixenbaugh earned the win after pitching 3.2 innings in relief. She allowed five hits and two runs (one earned).
 
Davis, Hudson and Tuli Iosefa each had two hits for NSU. Davis also drove in two runs and scored a pair. Reliever Joana Vallejo took the loss, tossing 2.0 innings and giving up four hits and four earned runs.
 
For more information on the 2022 MEAC Softball Championships, please visit the Championship Central page.
 
 
 
About the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is in its 51st year of intercollegiate competition with the 2021-22 academic school year. Located in Norfolk, Va., the MEAC is made up of eight outstanding historically Black institutions across the Atlantic coastline: Coppin State University, Delaware State University, Howard University, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Morgan State University, Norfolk State University, North Carolina Central University and South Carolina State University.