Boxscore

ORMOND BEACH, FLA. - Top seeded Howard defeated No. 4 North Carolina A&T, 3-1, in the opening round of the MEAC Championship on Thursday. Rebecca Kirshner was 3-for-3 with two runs and Nicole Saez added two hits, while Carly Martin earned a complete game after allowing four hits and striking out five for HU (21-26). The win was the ninth straight for the streaking Bison.

"This was a good win for us," said interim head coach Dexter Harris. "We were off for a few days and I'm happy that we're able to get this victory and continue in the winner's bracket."

After allowing a lead off single in the first, Barnes set down the next two in order including one strikeout. Tangala Conover put the Aggies on top 1-0, however, with a single to right center.

Howard got to work in the second and plated a run to tie things up. With no outs and the bases loaded, Sondra Jones lined a fielder's choice to shortstop and plated Kirshner to tie the game at 1-1.

In the bottom of the third, NCAT's Jennifer Luper retired the first two batters before allowing Saez to reach first on a single to right center field. Saez advanced to third on a throwing error by Ashley Carter and Kirshner scored her second run of the game to give the Bison a 2-1 lead.

Trina Kindred sent Martin home in the fourth as Howard went up 3-1.

Carter finished 1-for-3 with one run while Conover had one hit and one RBI for the Aggies.

Howard returns to action at 7 p.m. to face the winner of No. 2 Bethune-Cookman/No. 3 Hampton.