MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State softball coach
Megan Griffith's second campaign will feature 42 games, with 16 home contests and two in-season tournaments.
The slate also includes 27 matchups against Ohio Valley Conference foes, including three in Macomb, Ill., against new member Western Illinois.
The season begins on Friday, Feb. 16, with the first two games at the Pinnacle PC Invitational at Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C.
"We're very excited to open up with Presbyterian this year. We're looking forward to playing a challenging schedule this year to prepare us for conference and beyond," Griffith said.
In 2023, the Eagles finished 11-33 overall and 6-18 (and in eighth place) in the OVC. The club also sported a 3-10 mark at the University Field. Eight players return and will be joined by 10 newcomers.
MSU will open the year at Presbyterian, where the Blue and Gold will face Valparaiso at 9 a.m. and the host Blue Hose at 2:30 p.m. Last spring, Valpo posted an 8-41 record, while Presbyterian finished 25-22. The Eagles are 0-2 all-time against both the Blue Hose and the Beacons. The Eagles met Presby in a road doubleheader in 2014 and squared off against Valparaiso in both 1995 and 1996.
The next day, Morehead State returns to play Valparaiso at 9 a.m. and a familiar foe in Youngstown State at 12:15 p.m. The Penguins are coming off a 27-27 campaign. The meeting will be the first of three, as YSU will come to Morehead for a doubleheader in mid-April. The Eagles will wrap up the tournament on Sunday with another match against Presbyterian at 12:15 p.m.
One week later, MSU is back on the road, this time in Macon, Ga., for the MUSB Invitational. On Friday, Feb. 23, the Blue and Gold square off against Bryant at 11 a.m. and then meet the hosts at 6:30 p.m. On Day 2, the Eagles face Troy at 11 a.m. and Mercer at 1:30 p.m., before closing out the weekend against Troy on Sunday at 10 a.m. It will be the fourth time Morehead State will play in a tournament at Mercer (1991, 2004, 2006).
Troy had the best 2023 season among the three, finishing 33-19-1, while Mercer was 20-37 and Bryant 18-29. The Eagles are 1-3 against the Bears, winning the first meeting in 1991 and dropping the last three. MSU met Bryant two years ago at East Carolina and fell to the Bulldogs. The contests with Troy will be the first meetings between the two teams.
"Both tournaments have strong competition. We're going to cut our teeth at Mercer. We'll start off in South Carolina at Presbyterian College and then head to Georgia for Mercer," Griffith said. "One thing we wanted to do with these tournaments was going a little further south to get warmer weather while we warm up for the conference season."
The Eagles will be off for the next two weeks before entertaining Tennessee State in their home opener on Saturday, Mar. 9, for the first of three contests – a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday. MSU boasts a 69-21 overall mark against the Tigers, which finished 22-26-1 overall and 12-11 in the OVC last year, however it dropped all three meetings last spring in Nashville to end the regular season. The team's last victory over TSU came in the first game of the series in 2022.
The first conference road series will be the next weekend as Morehead State opens at Southern Indiana with a doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 16. SIU was 21-23 overall and 13-9 in the OVC last year. The Eagles went 1-2 last March against the Screaming Eagles in Morehead, winning the middle contest 5-4. The series is knotted at four wins apiece.
A mid-week trek to Bowling Green, Ky., to face Western Kentucky follows on March 20. It will just be a single game. The Toppers lead the all-time series 6-2, with the most recent meeting coming in February 2012, when WKU claimed a 4-1 extra-inning victory. Prior to that, the teams split a doubleheader at Western in 2010. The Eagles won the first game 4-0. The Toppers posted a 30-24 record in 2023.
Tennessee Tech comes to town for a three-game series on March 23-24, starting with a doubleheader on Saturday. The Golden Eagles, 6-44 overall and 2-21 in the OVC in 2023, lead the all-time series 77-34, but were swept by the Blue and Gold in three games last March. In 2022, the teams played a home-road doubleheader, with TTU taking three of four. MSU's last home win over the Golden Eagles was in 2017.
New conference member Western Illinois will host MSU on March 29-30. Unlike most OVC series, the first game will take place on Friday and the ensuing two on Saturday. The teams have faced once before, a doubleheader in Macomb in 2014, with the Leathernecks winning game one 10-3 and the teams tying 3-3 in six innings in the nightcap. WIU finished 9-36 last spring.
The final three contests of a six-game road swing will conclude April 6-7 at Lindenwood. The two squads met for the first time last year, with the Lions winning twice in Morehead, 4-2 in 11 innings and 4-3. MSU captured the finale 8-0 in six innings. Lindenwood finished 16-32 overall and 8-15 in the OVC in 2023.
Archrival Eastern Kentucky makes a return trip to Morehead State for a Wednesday, Apr. 10 doubleheader that will begin a season-high seven-game homestand for the Eagles. The two teams have met each year since 1993, except for the Covid-shortened campaign of 2020. The Colonels swept a doubleheader in Richmond in the most recent meetings, but MSU captured a 3-1 victory in 2022, the last time the game was played in Morehead. EKU, which finished 28-24 last spring, holds a 67-26 advantage in the all-time series.
Reigning regular-season champion Southeast Missouri makes a stop in Morehead for the weekend of April 13-14. SEMO leads the all-time series 69-22 and has won the last 11 meetings, including 1-0, 9-1 and 4-1 last year. In a scheduling quirk, the Redhawks last played at Morehead State in 2018, when they won both ends of a doubleheader. The Eagles swept Southeast Missouri in 2016, the previous time they met in Morehead. MSU's last win in the series (4-1) came in the 2018 OVC Tournament. SEMO was 29-14 overall and 20-2 in league play last season.
The Eagles' last mid-week doubleheader will be on Tuesday, Apr. 16, when Youngstown State comes to the University Field. It will be the Penguins' first-ever trip to Morehead. The all-time series is tied 2-2. The Penguins won twice at home in 2023, but the Eagles captured the other two contests in tournaments, the first in 2006 and the second in 2018.
On April 20-21, Morehead State will play a three-game set at UT Martin. The Skyhawks finished last spring with 23-24 overall and 13-10 OVC records and lead the all-time matchups 59-21. The last five games of the series were in Morehead, with UTM capturing the final two in 2023, 7-2 and 4-2 in eight innings. The Eagles won the first game 4-3. The last time the two faced off in Martin (2021), the Blue and Gold won the first contest and the hosts the final two.
Morehead State concludes its home alate on April 27-28, when reigning conference tournament champion, Eastern Illinois, comes to Morehead. It will be its first appearance at University Field since 2021. The Panthers went 34-21 and 16-6 last year. EIU has a 50-24 series edge, winning the last 17 meetings. MSU's last victory in the series came at home in the first game of a 2015 doubleheader 4-3. Eastern Illinois has won the last eight games at University Field. Last year, the Panthers won 8-0, 3-1 and 4-0.
The regular season concludes with a trip to SIUE on May 4-5. The Cougars defeated the Eagles 8-0 in the first round of the 2023 OVC Tournament to end MSU's season. They also won all three of the meetings during the regular season, which took place in Morehead. In 2002, MSU swept the Cougars at University Field, the first time it had ever accomplished the feat. The Eagles have hosted SIUE in every series since 2019. SIU Edwardsville won the last three meetings on its home field, including the last time the two met there (2018), 1-0 and 5-2. The Cougars have a commanding 28-5 lead in the all-time series.
"The conference is always a tough challenge. I see us putting together a strong performance this year. Now that we've got our feet wet, we know what to expect this year and we know a little bit about how to approach each team," Griffith said. "Western Illinois is a wild card. They've got a strong head coach and it'll be exciting to compete against them."
The OVC Tournament begins on Wednesday, May 8, and runs through Saturday, May 11. For the first time in conference history, the event will be held in Peoria, Ill. It was in Oxford, Ala., in seven of the past eight years.
Fri., Feb. 16 vs. Valparaiso* 9 a.m.
Fri., Feb. 16 at Presbyterian* 2:30 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 17 vs. Valparaiso* 9 a.m.
Sat., Feb. 17 vs. Youngstown State* 12:15 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 18 at Presbyterian* 12:15 p.m.
Fri., Feb. 23 vs. Bryant# 11 a.m.
Fri., Feb. 23 at Mercer# 6:30 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 24 vs. Troy# 11 a.m.
Sat., Feb. 24 at Mercer# 1:30 p.m.
Sun., Feb. 25 vs. Troy# 10 a.m.
Sat., Mar. 9 TENNESSEE STATE Noon
Sat., Mar. 9 TENNESSEE STATE 2:30 p.m.
Sun., Mar. 10 TENNESSEE STATE 1 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 16 at Southern Indiana 1 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 16 at Southern Indiana 3:30 p.m.
Sun., Mar. 17 at Southern Indiana Noon
Wed., Mar. 20 at Western Kentucky 6:30 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 23 TENNESSEE TECH 1 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 23 TENNESSEE TECH 3:30 p.m.
Sun., Mar. 24 TENNESSEE TECH Noon
Fri., Mar. 29 at Western Illinois 4:30 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 30 at Western Illinois 1 p.m.
Sat., Mar. 30 at Western Illinois 3:30 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 6 at Lindenwood 1 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 6 at Lindenwood 3 p.m.
Sun., Apr. 7 at Lindenwood 1 p.m.
Wed., Apr. 10 EASTERN KENTUCKY 1 p.m.
Wed., Apr. 10 EASTERN KENTUCKY 3:30 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 13 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE Noon
Sat., Apr. 13 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE 2:30 p.m.
Sun., Apr. 14 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STATE Noon
Tue., Apr. 16 YOUNGSTOWN STATE Noon
Tue., Apr. 16 YOUNGSTOWN STATE 2:30 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 20 at UT Martin 2 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 20 at UT Martin 4:30 p.m.
Sun., Apr. 21 at UT Martin 2 p.m.
Sat., Apr. 27 EASTERN ILLINOIS Noon
Sat., Apr. 27 EASTERN ILLINOIS 2:30 p.m.
Sun., Apr. 28 EASTERN ILLINOIS Noon
Sat., May 4 at SIUE 2 p.m.
Sat., May 4 at SIUE 4 p.m.
Sun., May 5 at SIUE 2 p.m.
Wed, May 8 OVC Tournament TBA
Thu., May 9 OVC Tournament TBA
Fri., May 10 OVC Tournament TBA
Sat., May 11 OVC Tournament TBA
* Pinnacle PC Invitational (Clinton, S.C.)
# MUSB Invitational (Macon, Ga.)
& Ohio Valley Conference Championship (Peoria, Ill.)
HOME GAMES IN ALL CAPS
All Times Eastern
