Game 1 Box Score (HTML | PDF)
Game 2 Box Score (HTML | PDF)
MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State softball team turned a triple play, got a two-hitter from its starting pitcher in game one, and rallied from a three-run deficit to win game two Wednesday afternoon against Bellarmine at University Field. The Eagles won the opener 4-1 and rallied with a five-run sixth inning to win the nightcap 7-5.
MSU improved to 14-13 – its first time over the .500 mark this season. The Knights fell to 12-22.
In the opening game, MSU starter Sarah Funston improved to 6-5 on the season by allowing only two Bellarmine hits in a complete game effort. The only run the Knights sent home was unearned. On offense, the Eagles got a three-RBI game from senior Courtney Seiler.
The Eagles fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first as the Knights got an RBI single to score a runner from second who had advanced on a passed ball. The Eagles tied the game in the fourth on Seiler’s first RBI of the game – a single to left field.
MSU added another tally in the fifth. Sophomore transfer Briana Williams, who made her first career start at third base, also scored her first career Division I run via an infield fielding error on Kayla Brill’s grounder to shortstop.
The Eagles played two more in the sixth. Seiler delivered a two-out, two run single to score Rebecca Butler and Sam Woodall.
Casey Willard absorbed the loss for the Knights, allowing eight hits and all four runs.
The second game again saw Bellarmine grab an early 1-0 lead. Megan Murdoch drilled an RBI double off Ashley Boyd to stake the Knights to a 1-0 first inning lead. MSU answered with the tying run in the bottom of the frame. Senior Bethany Ellis drove a ball off the wall in right centerfield for a double to score Brill with the first of three runs Brill would score.
The Eagles moved on top 2-1 in the third as freshman Amber Riddle tallied a RBI ground out.
In the fifth, the Knights threatened with runners on the corners and no one out. However, Lauren Hanson’s bunt attempt was caught by first baseman Riddle. She threw to third to gun down the first runner, and Butler threw to second where Seiler had moved in from center to tag out the runner going from first to second. It is believed to be the first triple play in school history.
Bellarmine went ahead 5-3 in the top of the sixth, but the Eagles answered back with their five-run sixth. In the frame, MSU got four hits and took advantage of three BU errors to score all five runs unearned. Brill delivered the crucial blow though with a two-out, bases-clearing double that gave the Eagles a 6-5 lead. Sam Sparks started the rally with an RBI single.
Freshman Elizabeth Wagner relieved Boyd in the sixth and was credited with her first career win as she held the Knights in check over the final one-and-and-third innings. Kristen Gramling took the loss, allowing just two earned runs.
Sparks and Brill each went 2-for-3.
The Eagles host Eastern Illinois this weekend. Friday’s doubleheader begins at 1 p.m. with Saturday’s single game slated for a noon start. Wazoo Sports Television Network will be broadcasting Saturday’s game live.
