A seventh inning rally fell short, and the Norfolk State softball team dropped the third game of a conference series to Hampton on Sunday afternoon by a 7-6 score at the NSU Softball Field.
The Spartans were down by three going into the bottom of the seventh, but NSU got things goings to make it interesting. Senior Morgan Boyd singled into left, and junior Alina Moriarty singled with two outs. In the next at bat, Boyd got in just ahead of the ball on a play at third, loading the bases in the process.
Freshman Kayla McNair followed with a single into left center to score Boyd and Moriarty, but sophomore Whitney Williams got caught in a rundown for the final out of the game.
The loss dropped NSU’s regular season record to 12-6 in the MEAC and 19-23 overall. The Spartans enter the MEAC tournament next Thursday as the North’s No. 3 seed. They will play at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday against the No. 2 seed in the South, which has yet to be determined.
Sunday’s loss, which gave Hampton (26-18, 14-3 MEAC) a series sweep, featured a combined seven errors and five unearned runs.
Both teams got on the board in the first inning thanks to a combined five errors in that first frame alone.
Taylor McCoy doubled to score one run for Hampton, and a fielder’s choice bunt and an error added two more for a 3-0 lead.
The Spartans responded with two runs of their own in the frame. Sophomore Heather Dunning and Williams singled, and three straight errors on Hampton over the next three at bats scored a pair of runs.
In the fourth, the Pirates scored three more for a 6-2 lead, with all three runs scoring on a double by McCoy.
Senior Nikki Jones homered in the bottom of the fourth, and Boyd hit an RBI triple later in the frame to make it 6-4.
Jones’ homer was the team’s 36th of the season, breaking the program’s previous fast-pitch record of 35 set in 1997.
McCoy hit an RBI single in the sixth for Hampton for a 7-4 lead and what proved to be the winning run. McCoy hit 3-for-4 with four RBI in the game.
Boyd had two hits on the day for NSU, and McNair drove in a pair of runs.
Senior Jamie Schulle (13-14) suffered the loss after allowing six runs, three earned, on four hits in 3.2 innings of work. Senior Stephanie Wheatley allowed one earned run on three hits in 3.1 innings of relief. From NSU
