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GAME 2 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE (PDF)
SUNDAY LIVE STATS
MOREHEAD, Ky. — The Morehead State softball offense produced 17 hits in its doubleheader with SIU Edwardsville Saturday at University Field. It was just that when the Eagles got on base, they had trouble scoring.
MSU left 15 runners on base, including the bases loaded three times on the third out, as they dropped both ends of a doubleheader to the Cougars, 7-3 and 4-3.
SIUE improved to 12-17 and 4-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while the Eagles saw their losing streak reach nine games in falling to 9-20 overall and 3-5 in the league.
MSU’s Rebecca Butler went 5-for-7 with a home run and Elizabeth Wagner was 4-of-6 with a homer. SIUE’s Taylor Tooley hit her fifth home run and went 4-of-7 at the plate in the twinbill.
Erika Taylor (9-8) collected the win in the opener for the Cougars, striking out nine Eagle hitters. Lindsey Coleman fanned seven MSU batters in the nightcap to improve to 2-1. Kelcey McMurray (3-5) was saddled with the loss in the opener for MSU and allowed the hit that sent the go-ahead run across the dish in game two. Ashley Imperial (5-10) was tagged with the setback in the second contest.
In the opener, the Cougars busted open a 2-1 game in their favor by plating five runs in the top of the fifth. Rachel Coonrod had an RBI single, Kasey Schlafke doubled home two more runners, and Whitney Davis pushed across the final run with a double as the Cougars took a 7-1 lead.
The Eagles scored twice in the sixth via an RBI single by Sam Woodall and a sacrifice fly from Brooke McCartney. But, Taylor coaxed a strikeout with the bases loaded to end the threat. MSU also struck out with the bases juiced in the fifth.
Tooley opened the scoring with a solo homer in the second inning. Wagner answered by tying the game via a leadoff solo shot in the bottom of the second.
MSU had 10 hits to the Cougars’ eight. Woodall and Wagner had two hits each, and Butler was 3-for-4. Schlafke, Davis and Tooley had two hits each for SIUE.
In the second game, SIUE jumped on top 2-0 in the second frame, but the Eagles responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Butler led off with her 24th career home run and fourth of the year. Kayla Brill walked and later scored when Stephanie Etter drove a double to center field.
The Cougars pushed ahead 4-2 in the fifth. Coonrod delivered a one-out, two-run single to score Chelsea Yankolovich and Paige Sheeder. MSU cut the deficit to 4-3 in the bottom of the fifth. Woodall reached on a fielding error and scored on Kayla Ashbrook’s single to center. Coleman then allowed just one hit in the final two MSU at-bats to preserve the victory.
The teams will play the finale of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. EDT.
