MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State softball team is set to welcome in Ohio Valley Conference foe Belmont to University Field on Saturday for a doubleheader matchup slated to begin at 1:30 p.m. ET.
 
The Eagles (2-25, 0-6 OVC) are optimistic heading into the weekend series against the Bruins (20-15, 2-6) that they are prepared to get their first OVC victory of 2019.
 
"We had a lot of positives to take away from our games against Dayton on Wednesday," said first-year Eagles' head coach Samantha Jones. "We were in both games for five innings and just weren't able to finish. We've spent the last two days of practice working on our attack at the plate and how we can make adjustments late in games to adapt our approach."
 
The Eagles dropped an 8-1 decision when Dayton scored six runs in the sixth inning and then dropped a 6-5 contest when the hosts came back from a 5-1 deficit with a five-run outburst in the sixth inning.
 
At the plate, freshman Peyton Slater posted a solid overall day with a 4-of-6 day in both games that included a double and a run scored. Sophomore Alexis Strother continues to flash her power in the batter's box as she blasted her fourth home run of the season on Wednesday.
 
In the circle, both freshman Lakyn Largent and junior Randi Hamilton were solid in both starts for five innings. Largent, who is a lefty from Paducah, Ky., gave up just three hits and two runs through five frames before Dayton singled and then hit back-to-back homers to end her day in the circle. Hamilton tossed four innings of one-run softball before the Flyers found a rhythm at the plate and began the five-run fifth inning with three-straight hits.
 
"I was proud of Lakyn and Randi's efforts on Wednesday," said MSU pitching coach Breanna Wonderly. "We've spent the last two days studying what we can do to improve finishing games and then we've competed against each other in practice to try and force each other to grow together."
 
Both games against the Bruins will be streamed live on ESPN+.