Softball

            Hampton, Howard Meet In High Stakes Twinbill on Senior Day

           Tomorrow's match-up between the Hampton Pirates and the Howard University Bison features Senior Day for four members of the team who will be playing their last home game in their careers at Banneker Stadium at 1 pm.  Semplecia Scott, Larcus Pickett, Sukai Curtis-Contreas and Tracey Javier will be honored between games.

            But this contest has implications that go beyond the emotion of  Senior Day.  It is a possible preview of a showdown that could later determine the the Mid-Eastern Conference championship. The Pirates, who lead the MEAC in the standings are currently in first place with a 10-0 record in the conference and 29-9 overall while the Bison, who are fourth in the conference and having the best season in school history, boast a 9-3 MEAC record and 29-16 overall.

            Hampton is coming off a sweep of Delaware State on April 21 while Howard split with the Hornets on April 22 in Dover, DE.

The two schools met on April 9 in Hampton.  The Pirates won the first game, 13-5 and the Bison rebounded with a 10-7 victory.  In the MEAC points system, the first game counted toward conference standings but the second did not.  The same applies in this doubleheader: the first counts toward the standings while the second does not.

            It is a classic battle between two rivals:  Howard leads the conference in batting while Hampton leads in pitching; the Bison rank first in fielding and Hampton is third; Amanda Black is the top pitcher in the MEAC and Howard's Dale McNeal is second; and Maggie Wolfe ranks among the top batters while Howard's Courtney Young ranks nationally in batting.

            Pickett, Curtis-Contreras, Scott and Javier have all played a role in the growth and success of the program.  Three years ago, the Bison won 12 games, then 20, then 25, and now they are on the brink of a 30-plus win season, a milestone in school history.  Javier, in particular, is having her best season, ranking in the Top 5 in several categories and nationally in a few others.

            The Bison close out the regular season next Sunday when they travel to Baltimore, MD to take on the Bears of Morgan State in a doubleheader that gets underway at 11 am.  The MEAC will start on May 7 and will be hosted by Morgan State.

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Asst. AD for Academic Advising/Head Softball Coach
Tonja M. Braxton