DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University softball team will make its historical first appearance in an NCAA Division I Softball Championship when the Eagles take the field at Jake Turner Stadium in Athens, Georgia, at the 2023 NCAA Athens Regional against host and 14th-overall seeded University of Georgia on Friday, May 19, at 4:30 p.m.
 
COMPLETE NCCU REGIONAL NOTES & STATS (PDF)
 
2023 NC CENTRAL SOFTBALL TEAM NOTES

• NCCU secured its first NCAA DI Softball Championship bid after winning its first MEAC Softball Championship in 2023, defeating Coppin State University 6-2 in the clinching game on Saturday, May 13.
• The MEAC title is the first conference championship by a women's team since NCCU reclassified to Division I at the beginning of the 2011-12 season. NCCU's last conference championship by a women's team was women's basketball in 2007, the final season of Division II competition.
• NCCU's last softball conference championship was the CIAA title in 2006.
• NCCU's last trip to the NCAA postseason was an at-large bid to the 2007 NCAA Division II regionals. Larry Keen was the head coach for both NCCU softball team to last make the NCAA postseason at the DII level (2006 & 2007).
• NCCU won 12 MEAC games in 2023, a new program record for league wins since joining the conference in 2011-12.
• NCCU defeated North Carolina State University, 10-3, in the second game of a road doubleheader on March 8, securing the first program win against a 'power five' conference opponent since 2019. Coach Tarvin was also an assistant coach at NCCU when the Eagles defeated No. 24 UNC on April 30, 2019, which is the only program win against a nationally ranked DI team.
• NCCU led the MEAC in home runs (39). The Eagles have averaged 0.73 home runs per game, which is tops in the conference and ranks 86th nationally out of 295 teams listed in the DI rankings.
• The Eagles also ranked first in the MEAC in total walks drawn (156).
• NCCU has played 40 of its 52 games on the road at away or neutral-site fields.
• The Eagles have 347 hits, scored 222 runs and hit 39 home runs -- all DI era single-season program records.

2023 NC CENTRAL SOFTBALL INDIVIDUAL NOTES

• Third-year head coach Cat Tarvin is from Lawrenceville, Georgia, which is less than one-hour drive (approx. 40 miles) away from Athens, Georgia, host site of NCCU's first NCAA DI Softball Championship appearance.
• Cat Tarvin was named MEAC Coach of the Year after leading NCCU to its most league wins in the modern era and then earned MEAC Softball Championship Most Outstanding Coach after guiding the Eagles to their first MEAC tournament title since joining the league 12 years ago (2011-12).
• Sophomore Jaden Davis was named MEAC Softball Championship Most Outstanding Player and she joined Ashanti Eubanks and Morgan Green on the MEAC Softball Championship All-Tournament Team.
• Freshman right-side infielder Makiya Graves was named MEAC Rookie of the Year. Graves has a team-best .356 batting average and she ranks fourth nationally in toughest to strikeout at the DI level. Graves has only struck out four times this season for an average of 40.0 plate appearances between strikeouts.
• Jaden Davis enters the regional on an NCCU team-best, 11-game hitting streak. She also leads NCCU in wins (10) and ERA (3.27 ERA). Fellow sophomore Ashanti Eubanks has joined Davis in sharing most of NCCU's pitching responsibilities and she has eight wins, including the W in the MEAC Championship game. Davis (95) and Eubanks (93) rank second and third, respectively, in the MEAC in total strikeouts.
• Six Eagles were named All-MEAC in 2023, the most NCCU postseason award winners since joining the league in 2011-12. NCCU MEAC postseason award winners were Makiya Graves (1st), Takia Nichols (1st), Imara Harrell (1st), Jaden Davis (2nd), Ivory Jones (2nd) and Maegan Garrison (3rd). Garrison has earned All-MEAC twice at NCCU.
• NCCU has three of the top four home run hitters in the MEAC. Ivory Jones leads the conference with nine home runs, which is tied for a DI era program record at NCCU (Ava Dolan), while Takia Nichols and Maegan Garrison are tied for second in the league with eight homers apiece.
• Other statistical leaders for NCCU include Maegan Garrison with 32 RBI; Makiya Graves with 29 runs and eight doubles and Takia Nichols with 27 walks (tied DI era program record), a.465 on-base percentage and .583 slugging percentage (1.048 OPS).
• Morgan Green, Ivory Jones and Imara Harrell all have eight stolen bases on the season to pace the Eagles.

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