NORFOLK, Va. – The fifth-seeded Coppin State University softball team held off third-seeded North Carolina Central University 6-5 in the first championship game at the 2023 MEAC Softball Championship to force a winner-take-all second game that will be contested at the NSU Softball Field on Saturday with first pitch around 2 p.m.
 
NC Central (18-33) and Coppin State (16-27) are 1-1 against each other in the tournament and the winner of the third meeting that will be broadcast on ESPN+ will be the first MEAC Softball Championship for either program.
 
Coppin State used six hits, three in each of the first two innings, to jump out to a 3-nil advantage. Freshman Manaia Fonoti provided an RBI-single in each of those frames.
 
NCCU pulled within one run with a pair of runs in the home half of the second inning. Junior Ivory Jones and freshman Makiya Graves drove in those two runs with run-producing singles.
 
CSU stole seven bases in the contest, including four thefts in the fourth inning that led to three runs in that frame to extend the designated visitors lead to 6-2. Fonoti and fellow freshmen Celeste Gonzales and Ava Camarena all swiped a pair of bases.
 
An error by Coppin State led to two unearned runs that inched NCCU to within two runs, 6-4, in the bottom of the sixth inning. Green and Jones started the frame with consecutive hits and they both scored on the error by CSU.
 
NC Central scored one more run in the seventh and had the potential game-tying run on base, but CSU junior Vanessa Carrizosa was able to record the final out to force a second game. NCCU's late rally featured a leadoff single by freshman by Takia Nichols that later led to a run scored on a single by junior Morgan Green.
 
Coppin State finished with an 11-9 hit edge. Gonzales led the victorious Eagles with three hits and three runs scored.
 
Graves, Green and Jones all produced two hits apiece for NCCU. Green also scored twice.
 
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