Softball drops midweek doubleheader at Dayton

DAY 4, MOR 3 - Box Score | Box Score (PDF) DAY 1, MOR 1 - Box Score | Box Score (PDF)

DAYTON, Ohio - Morehead State softball dropped both games of a doubleheader with the University of Dayton on Tuesday afternoon at UD softball stadium. The Eagles fell in the first game, 4-3, and lost the second game, 1-0, in the bottom of the seventh. 
 
After dropping both games, the Eagles move to 17-13 on the season and the Flyers move to 12-13-1 overall.

"We didn't play our best. We allowed four unearned runs, with three in the first game and one in the second. That was the difference. Our pitchers threw well, but our defense needed to make plays behind them and our offense needed to step up," said head coach David Williams.
 
In the second game, freshman Allison Rager and Jessica Gilliam battled in a pitching duel. Rager kept the Flyers scoreless and allowed just two hits through the first six innings. After recording the first out of the seventh, Madi Mahloof hit a single to left field and was replaced on the basepaths by pinch runner Kirsten Bartlett. Bartlett then reached third base on an error. With one out in the seventh, Kayla Laquiere knocked in the only run of the game with a fielder's choice as Bartlett scored for the walk-off victory.
 
The lone run given up by Rager was unearned. Her record goes to 7-3 on the season.
 
Senior Tressa Watson, junior Kayla McGuffey, and sophomore Laine Simmons each recorded hits in the loss.
 
The first of the two contests began with an early 1-0 lead for the Eagles as they scored on a throwing error by centerfielder Jaclyn Kweder.
 
The lead didn't last long as Dayton followed up in the bottom half of the inning with a runner scoring off an error to bring the game to a tie.
 
Sophomore Robyn Leighton broke the 1-1 tie with a double to right-center field, driving in McGuffy for the go-ahead run in the top of the third.

Dayton answered in the bottom of the third with two runs as Lisa Tassi drove in the first run with a single up the middle to tie the game. Mahloof knocked in the third run for the Flyers with a groundout to second base to score Kathryn Hess.
 
With Dayton leading 3-2, sophomore Hannah Murphy stepped up with the bases empty in the top of the fourth. She hit a soaring fly ball to right-center field for her third home run of the year, tying the game once again.
 
Dayton took its final lead in the bottom of the sixth as Krista Gustafson scored on a groundout to first base by Kayla Haberstitch. The Flyers finished off the Eagles in the top of the seventh with three quick outs for a 4-3 victory.
 
Leighton finished 2-3 with an RBI double, McGuffy went 2-4, and Murphy went 1-3 with a solo home run.
 
Sophomore Mackenzie Grossman picked up the loss and her record falls to 6-7 on the season. She allowed all four runs, but only one was earned.

Next up, the Eagles host Eastern Kentucky this weekend in a three-game series. They will play two on Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m. ET, and then wrap the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.