NORFOLK, Va. – The second of three straight weekends at home is up next for the Norfolk State softball team. The Spartans will host five other teams as part of the three-day Hampton Classic from Friday through Sunday at the NSU Softball Field.
 
Altogether, six teams will play a total of eight games at the NSU Softball Field between Friday and Sunday, five of those games involving the Spartans. Action gets underway at 2 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
 
NSU will host fellow MEAC schools Delaware State and Howard, as well as Fairleigh Dickinson, Marshall and Morehead State. Those five other schools will also play games at Hampton throughout the weekend as part of the tournament officially run by HU.
 
Live stats will be available for every game of the tournament at NSU. In addition, live video for each game at NSU is available through the department's video streaming link.
 
Below is the complete schedule of games at both NSU and Hampton:
At NSU
Friday
2 p.m.             Norfolk State vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
4 p.m.             Norfolk State vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
Saturday
10 a.m.           Morehead State vs. Howard
12 p.m.           Marshall vs. Howard
2 p.m.             Norfolk State vs. Morehead State
4 p.m.             Norfolk State vs. Marshall
Sunday
10 a.m.           Delaware State vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
12 p.m.           Norfolk State vs. Marshall
 
At Hampton
Friday
10 a.m.           Marshall vs. Delaware State
12 p.m.           Hampton vs. Delaware State
2 p.m.             Hampton vs. Marshall
Saturday
10 a.m.           Delaware State vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
12 p.m.           Hampton vs. Fairleigh Dickinson
2 p.m.             Hampton vs. Delaware State
Sunday
10 a.m.           Howard vs. Morehead State
12 p.m.           Hampton vs. Morehead State
2 p.m.             Hampton vs. Howard
 
NSU will be looking to break a five game losing streak that has dropped the Spartans to 2-6 overall on the season. They fell in all five games last weekend, although three of the losses were by two runs or less. They will also be looking to get back on track offensively, as they have scored just 2.5 runs per game this season.
 
Marshall has had no problem getting its offense going, as the Thundering Herd own an 8-5 record while hitting .350 as a team. Aly Harrell (.576, four home runs, 18 RBI), Mya Stevenson (.364, four home runs, 12 RBI) and Sierra Huerta (.310, three home runs, 10 RBI) are just three of those big bats at the plate.
 
Fairleigh Dickinson did not compete last weekend, and the Knights compiled a 2-3 record the week before down in Texas for their only games of the year. They are hitting .293 as a team, and Savannah Thornell owns the team's only home run with four RBI and a .417 average in 12 at bats. Abby England has struck out 15 in 10.0 innings of work with a 2.80 ERA.
 
Morehead State carries a 3-5 overall record after two weekends of play, with two of those wins coming by a combined 13-3 score over another MEAC school, North Carolina A&T. Pitching has been MSU's biggest downfall, as they hold a 7.88 team ERA. Adeline Nicholson (.450, 7 RBI) and Alexis Strother (.381, two home runs, five RBI) have been the offensive catalysts.
 
Howard (1-13) and Delaware State (0-11) have not had nearly the same amount of success so far as the other three teams in the tournament. Opponents are hitting .445 against DSU's pitchers, who have given up an average of 11.4 runs per game. Jasmine Melgoza (.458) has been a bright spot on offense.
 
HU has not faced an easy schedule to this point, and Camille Navarro (.372, 11 runs), Kalita Dennis (.341, one home run, nine RBI) and Xzarria Simmons (.297) have continued to hit well into the start of their sophomore seasons. The Bison have given up 7.9 runs per game.
 
NSU and Fairleigh Dickinson are tied at 3-3 in the all-time series, as they last faced off in 2017 when NSU won twice on a neutral field. NSU won last year's meeting with Morehead State, although the Eagles have a slight 2-1 edge in their all-time series. The Spartans have never faced Marshall.
 
They have seen plenty of Howard and Delaware State over the years. NSU leads the series with Howard, 27-15, while DSU has the slight edge in their history with the Spartans, 31-27.
 
NSU will welcome Binghamton, Delaware, Drexel, Saint Peter's, UMBC and Wagner for the Pirate Invitational from March 6-8, which includes the most games out of the three straight tournaments run by Hampton.