MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State softball offense continues to roll along. Unfortunately, on Sunday, so did SIU Edwardsville, as the visiting Cougars picked up a pair of wins over the Eagles at the University Field in the Ohio Valley Conference series opener for both teams. It also was MSU's first home games of the season.
Because of concerns of poor weather anticipated prior to Saturday, the weekend series was reversed from two games on Saturday and one on Sunday.
SIUE (10-9/3-0) swept the series, its fifth in seven years at MSU, as the Cougars extended their all-time lead to 33-7 overall and 21-4 in Morehead. SIUE has now won six straight over the Blue and Gold at the University Field. It also has now won five straight overall and improve to 4-3 in true road games this spring.
On Saturday, the visitors used a sixth-run six inning to pull out a 12-8 victory in the opener and kept the Eagles' bats at bay in the nightcap to claim a 10-3 win in the finale.
"We had great offensive production all up and down the lineup. It was great to see Sela get that home run, but we still left 10 runners on base," MSU coach
Megan Griffith said about the first contest.
"After several games with some great offense, the bats fell quiet today in the second game. 'Red' (
Taikibrea Campbell) came in and pitched well in her appearance," she added about the series finale.
In the opener, both teams scored twice in the first, but Morehead State (1-21/0-3) moved ahead 3-2 with a run in the bottom of the third. SIUE added two runs in the top of the fourth and then added six in the sixth and two in the seventh.
MSU battled back to score five times in the bottom of the seventh. The Eagles' finished with 13 hits, their second-highest total this season.
Emma Henderson got the game going with a two-run first.
The Eagles then loaded the bases after a single and two walks in the bottom of the frame. Freshman second baseman
Victoria Spencer and Pickford each picked up RBI. SIUE pitching walked four batters that inning.
MSU began the third with three straight singles, with Pickford driving in a run to push the Eagles in front.
Henderson came up big again with a two-run single in the fourth that gave SIUE a run it did not surrender. The Cougars finished the stanza with four hits.
The Eagles put runners on base in both the fourth and fifth but could not drive any home.
The visitors used five hits in the sixth, including a three-run homer from Piper Montgomery to extend their lead. They pushed farther in front after adding two more runs off a two-RBI double from Lauren Yslava in the top of the seventh.
SIUE made a change to Reese Ray to begin the seventh and the Eagles' responded with four straight hits, including two doubles. Henderson returned to the circle to finish the game, but Pickford immediately cleared the bases with her second career home run, this time over the fence in left-center field to draw MSU within four. Freshman catcher
Nyla Doiron reached base on an error and sophomore left fielder
Maddy Christopher added a single to keep the rally alive. Yet, with just one out, the next two Eagle batters got out to end the contest.
Eight different Eagles recorded hits. Spencer led the way at 3-for-4, with a run and an RBI. Pickford tied a team season high with five RBI as she finished 2-for-3, with a run. Sophomore third baseman
Kendra Lewis went 2-for-3 with both a run and an RIB. Senior designated player
Ilencia Lightbody added a 2-fof-4 performance at the plate, while scoring a team-best three times. Christopher, freshman right fielder
Sophie Collins and Doiron also had hits.
SIUE pounded out 16 hits, led by Kaylin Fahy with three. Kaylynn Salyars, Henderson, Juztyne Torres, Raegan Duncan and Danielle Shuey each had two.
Junior
Emma Solis (1-8) suffered the loss. She went the distance, but allowed 12 earned runs and 16 hits, while both striking out and walking four.
Henderson (3-2) pitched seven innings, surrendered four runs on nine hits. Ray faced four batters and give up four hits and four runs. Henderson also struck out four and walked four.
Morehead State got on the board first in the bottom of the opening inning of game two. Christopher led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice. After a Lightbody walk, Christopher moved up on a wild pitch, before an attempted double steal brought Christopher home.
The visitors got on the board with a three-run third, in which they picked up five hits. Henderson, Montgomery and Torres were part of a stretch of four straight hits, with Torres finishing with a double that drove in the three runs.
Henderson picked up a three-run homer in the top of the fourth to break the game open. Then, after a Montgomery run-scoring single, the Eagles made a change in the circle to Campbell.
Lightbody walked to begin the fourth and Montoya hit her fourth home run at MSU and first of the season with a shot over the fence in right-center field.
SIUE added a run in the top of the sixth after a solo homer by Anna Henderson. The Cougars loaded the bases to begin the seventh, eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly by pitch hitter Harley Limberger.
The Eagles could not muster a rally in the seventh.
Christopher, Lightbody and Montoya had MSU's hits. SIUE finished with 16 hits for the second straight game. Montgomery led the visitors with a 4-for-4 effort at the plate. She also drove in two runs. Emma Henderson finished a dominant weekend with a 2-for-4, four-RBI outing in the finale. She also scored twice. Anna Henderson added three hits and two runs.
Junior
Rylie Burney (0-10) suffered the loss. She gave up eight runs (seven earned) on 12 hits, with a walk and a strikeout in 3.1 innings. Campbell finished the game and yielded two runs on four hits, with two walks and a strikeout in 3.2 innings of work.
Avery Arwood got the win to improve to 4-4 on the season. She surrendered three runs on three hits, with three walks and struck out five.
The weekend results extended Morehead State's slide to 13 games, its longest streak since dropping 15 to open the 2022 campaign. The three defeats continued MSU's winless run at home to 11. MSU's last home win since taking a 4-2 decision over Tennessee Tech on March 23.
Morehead State goes on the road for its first single non-conference outing when it faces Northern Kentucky on Wednesday in Highland Heights, Ky. The first pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. Next weekend, the Eagles play a three-game series at Eastern Illinois, before returning home to host Southern Indiana on March 22-23.
