PRINCESS ANNE, Maryland — The University of Maryland Eastern Shore softball team heads south, facing North Carolina Central in Cary, N.C. for a three-game weekend series beginning Saturday (March 25).
The Hawks look to bounce back after dropping both in Wednesday's (March 22) doubleheader against the University of Pennsylvania. UMES stands at 6-13 on the season and 2-1 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play.
The Eagles enter at 5-20 on the season and fresh off a sweep of South Carolina State to open their action in the MEAC. The third game of the series, played on Monday (March 20), was a 3-1 decision that required nine innings to crown a winner.
UMES may have their eyes on a little revenge, as the weekend will be the first meeting between the teams since the Eagles knocked the Hawks out of the MEAC Tournament a season ago.
"This weekend is a great test for us," Hawks coach Karla Ross said. "We have played competitively with NCCU every time … we took the series during the regular season, then lost to them in the tournament last year."
Checking on the Hawks
Kelsie Ekstrom picked up right where she left off in the series finale against Delaware State, going 5-for-6 on Wednesday. Dating back to that March 19 contest in Dover, Ekstrom has been on an obscene hot streak, tallying nine hits in her last 11 at-bats with three doubles, four runs batted in and three runs scored.
Ekstrom boasts a slash line of .354/.456/.500, ranking first on the team in average and on-base percentage and trailing only Ah-Nayia Oglesby (.553) in slugging. Oglesby launched her second homer of the season in the second game against the Quakers, a solo shot that helped her climb to the top of the slugging category for the squad.
Ameenah Ballenger (.321) and Nola Mountain (.309) are the other two Hawk hitters north of the .300 mark this season. The Hawks have seven players batting .260 or higher on the year, including McKenzie Abiley, Ryan Merriwether, Oglesby and Katelyn Smitchko.
Smitchko took the brunt of the innings against the Quakers, starting both contests and going the distance in game two while striking out three on the day. Ballenger tossed a solid 4.1 innings in relief in game one, surrendering just a pair of runs.
The Hawks are among the top 50 teams in Division I in stealing bases, ranking 44th averaging 1.8 per game. Mountain has been the team's most dangerous base runner so far, stealing eight bags in her nine attempts.
Scouting the Eagles
Freshman Makiya Graves holds a .316 batting average, the top mark for the Eagles. Graves is also the lone Eagle to start in all 25 games this season.
While there aren't a lot of eye-popping averages for the Eagles, the team has made up for it with the long ball this year. NCCU has slugged 22 on the season, with redshirt junior Ivory Jones' six leading the way.
In the circle, NCCU's Jaden Davis and Ashanti Eubanks have worked 135.1 of the team's 158.1 innings in the campaign. Davis leads the group with a 4.38 ERA in 15 appearances with four complete games on the season.
Eubanks has appeared in 20 games, carrying a 7.11 earned-run average and going the distance twice. She also picked up a save in the series opener against South Carolina State on Sunday, March 19, recording the final three outs.
Davis gave way to Eubanks only after working six innings and striking out 10 Bulldogs.
"We know we need to stay patient in the box, use our speed on the bases and be ready on defense," Ross said. "They like to use small ball, steal, and have some long ball power. Every game we focus on taking things one pitch at a time and having lots of energy from start to finish."
First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 1 p.m. from Thomas Brooks Park. The weekend series will be available to stream at https://nccueaglepride.com/watch/?Live=353&type=Live.
