BRACKET
DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University softball team will make its first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Softball Championship appearance since joining the league when the 2017 postseason tournament begins play Thursday at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex near Daytona Beach, Florida.
The Lady Eagles are the fourth seed from the Southern Division and will play the top-seeded team from the Northern Division in Hampton University on Thursday at 10 a.m. NCCU increased its win totals from a year ago to qualify for the event with a 12-28 overall record a 7-8 ledger in conference contests. The Pirates dominated the other division, 17-1, to finish the regular season over .500 at 22-20.
NCCU and Hampton met in the regular season with the two teams splitting the doubleheader on March 6. The Lady Eagles won the first contest, 4-2, behind a complete-game, five-hitter from senior
Dominique Wilson. The Pirates edged NCCU, 5-3, in the nightcap with the aid of three unearned runs.
All eight teams will play two games on Thursday. The NCCU/Hampton victor will play the winner of the No. 2 seed Bethune-Cookman and No. 3 seed Morgan State game at 7 p.m., while the losers of both of those games will play an elimination game at 4:30 p.m. in the double-elimination tournament.
The other two first-round games on the opposite side of the bracket features No. 1 Florida A&M facing No. 4 Coppin State and No. 2 Delaware State battling No. 3 North Carolina A&T. The championship game(s) are scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m.
Wilson leads NCCU's pitching staff with an 8-15 record and 3.73 ERA. She has 92 strikeouts in 131.1 innings pitched. Junior
Lauren Sitterson (4-8, 6.27 ERA, 29 SO, 80.1 IP) has been the Lady Eagles' other go-to hurler.
Sitterson and Wilson also sport the top bats for the maroon and gray with averages of .281 and .280, respectively. Wilson leads NCCU with 16 RBI and is tied with freshman
Ava Dolan (.250) with four home runs apiece. Other top batters for the Lady Eagles include sophomore
Miriam Duen (.268, 9 R, 4 2B), senior
Jennifer Allison (.247, 9 R, 9 RBI) and sophomore
Aleyah Evans (.214, 11 R, 9 SB).
The Pirates had four players earn All-MEAC distinction, including a trio on the Second Team in junior pitcher Allyson Babinsack (12-13, 2.65 ERA, 88 SO, 174.1 IP), junior first baseman Jada Fields (.321, 11 RBI, 19 R, 9 2B, 5 HR) and freshman outfielder Taylor Warrick (.359, 20 RBI, 26 R, 7 2B, 6 3B). Freshman outfielder Brianna Anderson (.270, 17 RBI, 17 R, 6 2B) followed on the Third Team.
Florida A&M is the two-time defending champion.
The 2017 MEAC Softball Championship is being hosted by Bethune-Cookman. For more information on the three-day event, please visit the Championship Central page on MEACSports.com.
