Hawks Now Prepare For Their First MEAC Tournament Since 2009
PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — After taking the first two games of their series with the Norfolk State University Spartans, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore fell short of completing the series sweep on Sunday (May 1) as NSU rallied to get a 4-3 victory.
In the first two innings, the Hawks did not manage to get a baserunner. However, the Spartans loaded the bases in each of the first two frames. Graduate student Nasya Goodman was able to pitch out of both jams to keep the game scoreless after two innings. She threw a total of five innings allowing just one earned run in her final game at home.
The Hawks did all of their offensive damage in the third inning. Freshman Rebecca Miller became the team’s first base runner after reaching on an error. Two batters later, sophomore Ah-Nayia Oglesby walked to get runners on first and second.
After Miller and Oglesby advanced on a passed ball, sophomore Tatum Kresley hit her fifth triple of the season to left-center to score two runs and put the Hawks up 2-0. Her classmate Julia Garcia came up after that and crushed a double to right-center to score another run and made the score 3-0 heading into the fourth.
Garcia’s double in the third was her 16th of the season. That number tied her with the school record for doubles in a season with Kim Osbourne, who hit 16 in the 1996 season.
Norfolk State would slowly walk Eastern Shore down on the scoreboard over the last four innings. The Spartans scored one run in each of the last four frames, highlighted by a two-out homer from Tuli Iosefa to tie the game in the sixth.
The Shore did not have a great day at the plate as they had just four hits total. Aside from Kresley and Garcia’s hits in the third, Goodman and junior Tyanna Roberts had back-to-back singles to left field in the sixth to account for the team’s other hits.
Maryland Eastern Shore will now set its sights on a MEAC Championship. The team will be playing in the MEAC Tournament for the first time since after the 2009 season.
The Hawks will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament and take on the No. 5 seed North Carolina Central on May 11 at noon. The entire event will take place on the campus of Norfolk State. The MEAC Championship is a double-elimination tournament with the winner advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
For more information on Eastern Shore Athletics visit http://www.easternshorehawks.com/.
