PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore softball team begins Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play with a three-game series at Delaware State this weekend.
The slate starts with a Saturday (March 18) doubleheader beginning at noon, the third game beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 19.
"With it being the first weekend of conference play, we are looking to come out big," Hawks coach Karla Ross said. "Every weekend we're striving to sweep or take the series. We've had some great preseason games, now it's time to put it all together for conference play."
Highlighting the Hawks
The Hawks (4-10) enter MEAC play following a series win over Holy Cross last weekend. A pair of one-run wins got the job done, including a Sunday walk-off victory to cap the series.
Ross wants her team to be active on the bases, and they've done just that thus far. After swiping 11 bases in the series against the Crusaders last weekend, the team jumped into the top 40 in the nation in stolen bases per game at 1.86.
The Hawks have stolen 26 bags in 14 games this season and have been caught just eight times.
Nola Mountain stayed hot throughout the series, recording two multi-hit games and bringing her season average to .378. Mountain's .465 on-base percentage leads the team through 14 games.
Kelsie Ekstrom and Ryan Merriwether were essential in bringing runs home for the Hawks. Ekstrom piled up four RBI's in the series, including the walk-off double on Sunday (March 12) that scored three. Merriwether propelled the Hawks to a game one win, plating three in Saturday's opener.
Ah-Nayia Oglesby and Ameenah Ballenger each brought two runs home in the series as well.
Ballenger and Katelyn Smitchko each earned their second wins of the campaign against Holy Cross. The former tossed four innings of scoreless relief work in last Saturday's first of two, while the latter surrendered just one earned run in the final 3.2 frames of work on Sunday.
Hunting the Hornets
Like UMES, Delaware State enters the conference dust-up at 4-10 on the season. After opening the season with consecutive wins over Division III Agnes Scott College, the Hornets dropped 10 straight matchups from Feb. 17-28.
The Hornets are also entering league play on a high note, though. The weekend hosts swept Bowie State in a midweek doubleheader on Wednesday (March 15) by 6-4 and 6-1 scores.
Junior outfielder Uxua Modrego Lopez has been the team's most consistently successful and available hitter. She is the lone Hornet to start all 14 games this season and carries a .405/.488/.784 slash line thus far.
Of Lopez's 15 hits this season, eight have been for extra bases including four doubles, two triples and two home runs. Her six walks and 10 RBI's also lead the squad offensively.
Fifth-year outfielder Destiny Beckham started the season on fire, batting .519 through the first nine games of the season and going 8-for-8 in stolen bases, but has not played since February 24 against Hartford.
Redshirt junior Sydney Hoffman has thrown the most innings of any Hornet this season (43.1), carrying a 5.01 ERA with 16 walks and 15 strikeouts. Junior Mayanah McIntosh ranks second with 17.2 frames of work with an ERA of 5.55, 18 walks and 10 punch outs.
First pitch is slated for noon on Saturday, with the second game to follow 30 minutes after. The game will be streamed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@DESUTV.
