MOREHEAD, Ky. — Morehead State softball has been on the cusp of winning four times in its seven games this year, but just has not been able to pull out a victory.
For the second straight tournament, MSU opened the first day of play by going toe-to-toe with its opponents, before falling short in a pair of late-inning decisions.
On Saturday, at the Red and Black Classic in Boiling Springs, N.C., the opponents were East Tennessee State (2-4) and host Gardner-Webb (3-3) as the Eagles dropped the contests 10-5 and 9-8 in eight innings, respectively.
Unlike its outings in last weekend's Best on the Bayou Classic, Morehead State (0-7) had no trouble generating offense. However, it could not keep the Buccaneers' and Bulldogs' bats in check down the stretch.
MSU's seniors, catcher Peyton Slater and first baseman Alexis Strother, led the attack. Both finished the contest 2-for-3. Slater scored once and drove in a run, while Strother added two RBI.
"I was really impressed with the way we were hitting the ball today. We squared up on over 75 percent of our balls, as well as had a bunch of quality at bats, making the pitcher throw numerous pitches which also resulted in hits by pitch and walks," coach Samantha Jones said. "The girls did a great job of capitalizing on the opponents' errors as well as the pitchers' mistakes."
After holding ETSU scoreless for the first three innings, Morehead State (0-7) pushed a pair of runs across the plate in the bottom of the third frame. The Buccaneers answered and tied the score at 2-2 in the top of the fourth, but the Eagles regained the advantage after three consecutive singles led to two runs.
East Tennessee State drew within one after a Sara Muir leadoff homer in the top of the fifth and then took the lead for good with four runs on three hits in the sixth.
Morehead State got one run back in the bottom of the sixth, but the Buccaneers widened the gap with three more runs on three hits in the seventh.
Trinity Spear led off the seventh with a single, but ended the inning at second base.
The Eagles put up their highest hit total of the season, finishing the game with nine, but also allowed 13.
Ieesha Christian, Illencia LIghtbody and Taylor Rhea each added a single, while Kirya Kingery reached base for the first time this spring after notching a double. Rhea also drove in a run.
Sophomore Lennon Spicer (0-3) started the game and went three innings before yielding to Maya Morris. Spicer allowed nine hits and seven earned runs with five strikeouts and five walks. Morris faced five batters and lasted one-third of an inning, before Madi Ogden entered and pitched the final frame. Ogden retired all three batters who came to the plate, including one with a strikeout.
Three pitchers saw time in the circle for ETSU, with Alison Farr (2-1) getting the win after notching two and one-third innings of work. She allowed one earned run on four hits, while striking out three and walking two. Whitley Arnott got the save after pitching 1.2 scoreless innings. She finished with one hit, four strikeouts and one walk.
In the second game, Gardner-Webb jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first, but MSU responded with its largest single run-producing inning to date with six in the top of the second.
Twelve Eagles came to the plate, with Spear, Ogden (a double), Bree Sexton and Christian each collecting a hit; while Strother and Lightbody walked, and Peyton Rose was hit twice by a pitch.
The hosts added a run in the second and four in the third to pull to an 8-6 advantage.
However, the Eagles scored in the fifth on a two-out Christian RBI single.
The visitors then manufactured the tying run in the top of the seventh after forcing the Bulldogs to concede a run on an attempted double steal.
Niether team scored in its next set of at bats, but the hosts capitalized on their opportunity to utilize the international tie breaker in the bottom of the eighth as Abbey Goodrum scored after Reah Barger's two-out RBI single.
"One thing that we could do a little bit better is minimizing the walks that we gave up on the mound and continuously be more sound when it comes to our defense," Jones said. "Overall, their effort, energy and attitude in this second game far exceeded the first game, and that is what we're extremely proud of."
The Eagles bettered their season high in hits for the second time of the day after finding holes in the Bulldog defense 13 times. Sexton finished the contest 4-for-4, with two RBI and two runs scored. Christian, Strother and Ogden each posted two hits; while Rose, Spear and Rhea added one apiece. Although Slater's five-game hitting streak came to an end, she did walk twice to extend her string of reaching base successfully to six straight contests.
Andrea Lyon had three hits, while McKenzie Lawrence contributed two for the Bulldogs.
Spicer (0-4) was the hard-luck loser after surrendering the unearned run in the eighth. She pitched five and one-third innings in relief, allowing no earned runs and only three hits, while striking out seven and surrendering two walks. Ogden started in the circle and gave up eight runs on six hits with two strikeouts and seven walks.
Lyon handled the pitching duties for Gardner-Webb's first two innings, before surrendering the spot to Barger, who finished the contest and improve to 1-1 with the win. Despite allowing nine hits, she surrendered just two runs and no walks, while striking out three. Lyon yielded six runs on four hits with four walks and three strikeouts.
Morehead State returns Sunday to face the same two teams. The Eagles begin the day with a 10 a.m. tilt against ETSU and then concludes their stay in North Carolina with a noon contest against the host Bulldogs.
