GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Softball managed to split their season opening doubleheader, thanks to freshman Emily Williams and a dramatic comeback in the second game. Trailing 3-2 in the sixth inning, to UNC Wilmington, Madi Ogden ripped a two-out double down the left field line to score Taikibrea Campbell and tie the game. After a scoreless inning from junior Lennon Spicer, the Eagles loaded the bases for Emily Williams, who walked to force home the game-winning run.
Spicer got the win out of the bullpen for Morehead State, where the right-hander went three shutout innings, giving up one hit in the win.
Offensively, the Eagles were led by Williams, who went 1-for-3 on the game, adding her first collegiate home run in the second to go with her game winning walk. Sophomore Madi Ogden also put together a standout day at the dish, going 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Junior Peyton Jordan also helped out for Morehead State, putting together two hits in four trips to the plate.
In the afternoon's opening contest against UNC Greensboro, the Eagles fell in six innings, 8-0. The team scratched out four hits, including Kaytlyn Cripps notching her first hit as an Eagle, and Madi Ogden struck out five batters over 5.1 innings.
The Eagles are back in action tomorrow in North Carolina, facing UNC Wilmington at 11:00 AM before taking on UNC Greensboro at 1:30 PM.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game 1)
Madi Ogden struck out the side in the opening inning, but the Eagles couldn't convert on a leadoff single from Cripps to open the second inning.
The Spartans rallied for three runs in the bottom half of the inning before striking again for two more in the third.
The Eagles held UNC Greensboro at bay for the next two innings, but failed to take advantage of a leadoff single in the fifth inning by Williams and left Kirya Kingery and Trinity Spears in scoring position in the sixth.
The Spartans put the game away with three runs in the sixth for the mercy-rule victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED (Game 2)
Trailing 1-0, the Eagles first put runs on the board in the second inning on a leadoff home run from Williams.
The game remained tied until the very next inning, when the Eagles got going again on offense. Senior Trinity Spear came across to score the lone run of the inning for Morehead State, which brought the score to 2-1 in favor of the Eagles.
Morehead State's lead had evaporated by the time the sixth inning arrived and turned into a 3-2 UNC Wilmington advantage, when the Eagles evened up the game at three on Ogden's two-out RBI double.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the seventh, when Morehead State walked it off on a Williams walk from Hennessy that scored Kingery.
