SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UPSETS HOWARD Sahar Abdur-Rashid 05/13/10 Ormond Beach, Fla., May 13, 2010- South Carolina State capitalized on Howard miscues and a used a sterling pitching performance by Raven Johnson into a 5-0 upset win over the Lady Bison in the opening round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Softball Championship at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex in Ormond Beach, Florida. The Lady Bulldogs (9-41), who came in as the Number 4 seed in the South Division, broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fourth. Tonya Giles reached base on an error. LaTavia Riley, who went 2-for-3 during the morning, advanced her to second base. Channell Thompson then doubled to score Giles and Riley for a 2-0 lead. South Carolina State all but put the game away in the top of the fifth. First Denitia Carter reached base on a single. She advanced to second on a hit by Giles. Riley was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Carter scored from third base following an illegal pitch by Christina McCoy to make it 3-0. Then Giles and Riley scored on an error by right-fielder Christina Sborz to close out the scoring. The Lady Bison (24-21) came into the game as the Number 1 seed in the North Division. The Lady Bulldogs’ pitcher, Raven Johnson, proved to be very efficient as she faced 25 batters, scattered three hits and walked one batter against the Howard team which came into the game with a .330 team batting average. The potent Lady Bison lineup that features six batters who hit over 300, failed to threaten. Johnson (9-31) picked up the win while Carly Martin (9-8) took the loss. South Carolina State will take on the winner of the North Carolina A&T-Coppin State game at 7 p.m. The Lady Bison will face Hampton in the double-elimination bracket at 4:30 p.m.