2019 NCCU Softball Seniors at MEAC Tournament
Romeo T Guzman/MEAC
7
Winner Howard HOW 19-28
0
NC Central NCCU 23-26
Winner
Howard HOW
19-28
7
Final
0
NC Central NCCU
23-26
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Howard HOW 1 1 2 0 0 0 3 7 10 0
NC Central NCCU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 2

W: STEELE,Mackenzi (13-17) L: Hurley, Kiara (18-15)

Game Recap: Softball |

Lady Eagles Finish Fourth at MEAC Softball Championship


ORMOND BEACH, Fla. — No. 3 south-seeded North Carolina Central University was held scoreless by No. 2 north-seeded Howard University for a second time in the 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Softball Championship, dropping Friday's elimination game 7-0 at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex.
 
NC Central finished its season at 23-26 after placing fourth in the eight-team, double-elimination postseason tournament. The 23 wins are a new NCAA Division I era record for the Lady Eagles.
 
NCCU seniors Aleyah Evans, Claire Eosso and Miriam Duen were part of an on-the-field graduation ceremony conducted by the league just prior to the first pitch.
 
Howard is 3-1 in the conference tournament after claiming its second straight elimination win to improve to 19-28 on the season. The Bison will play another elimination game against No. 2 south-seeded Florida A&M University Friday evening.
 
The top hitting team in the MEAC had its bats going early and scored in each of the first three innings to take control from the beginning. Howard finished with a 10-6 hit advantage.
 
MEAC Rookie of the Year Kalita Dennis started the game off with a solo home run. Her eighth home run cleared the fence in left-center field on the second pitch of the showdown. Two consecutive singles doubled-up the Bison advantage, 2-0, in the second. Dennis started the third with a single and she eventually scored in the two-run frame that featured four more Howard hits. Fellow freshman Camille Navarro matched Dennis with two hits, including an RBI-double in the third. The Bison tacked on three more runs in the seventh, aided by an NCCU error.
 
Senior starting pitcher Mackenzi Steele tossed her second complete-game shutout against the maroon and gray in the tournament. Steele, who was the winning pitcher in Wednesday's 6-0 opening win against NCCU, limited the Lady Eagles to just six hits in Friday's 7-0 win. Steele (13-17) had four strikeouts in her seven innings of work.
 
All six of NCCU's hits were singles. Campbell's team-best second hit loaded up the bases in the bottom of the seventh, but Steele was able to get a popup against the ensuing batter to end the threat and the contest.
 
Sophomore Kiara Hurley, who leads the MEAC with 18 wins, suffered the loss allowing the first four runs in two-plus innings of work. Eosso tossed the final five innings and only one of her three runs surrendered was earned.
 
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