MOREHEAD, Ky. – With its back against the wall, over the span of one inning, the Morehead State softball team went from being down seven with one out and the bases loaded to having the tying run come to the plate with no outs. Unfortunately for the Eagles, host Eastern Illinois held on to prevail 7-3 in the opening game of the series between the two Ohio Valley Conference foes on Sunday afternoon in cold temperatures at Williams Field in Charleston, Ill.
"We hit the ball well in the sixth inning, mostly moved our runners around the bases and generally pitched well enough to win," said MSU head coach
Megan Griffith. "For the most part, our defense was solid. We just were shorthanded today on the mound and the reduced number of pitching options hurt us that one inning."
The result was more heartbreak for the Eagles, who have not won in Charleston since 2009 and have now dropped 21 straight against the Panthers (including 14 in a row at EIU).
It was the home opener for Eastern Illinois (11-13/3-1), which dating back to last spring has now won four straight on its field. Morehead State (1-23/0-4) has fallen in its last 15 outings, tying the mark it set to open the 2022 campaign. MSU also is 1-8 in true road games this season.
The Blue and Gold continue to generate offense. With seven hits on the day, MSU notched its 15th contest with at least six hits and 20th game with at least four.
EIU scored one run in the second, third and fourth innings courtesy of three hits and an error. One run came off a McKenzie Oslanzi home run, a second off a sacrifice bunt and another off a wild pitch. Yet, the hosts did their greatest damage in the bottom of the fifth, when they had a leadoff single, a walk, a passed ball, a walk, two more singles, a walk and an infield single to stretch their lead to 7-0.
However, MSU responded in the top of the sixth with freshman second baseman
Victoria Spencer reaching on an error, senior designated player
Ilencia Lightbody doubling to left-center field, sophomore third baseman
Kendra Lewis driving in two runs with a double to left field, senior center fielder
Darlene Montoya notching an infield single and sophomore shortstop
Sela Pickford with an RBI double to left-center field. The results chased Oslanzi, EIU's starting pitcher. They were the first earned runs she had allowed in two weeks.
With Karlie McKenzie now pitching, the Eagles continued to mount a threat. Junior first baseman
Jordan Donato drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. However, McKenzie induced the next three batters to commit outs and end the rally.
The Panthers got two on base in the bottom of the sixth, but were unable to score, and MSU went down in order in the top of the seventh to end the game.
Morehead State finished with seven hits and two errors. It left seven runners on base. Eastern Illinois had eight hits, two errors and left eight runners on base.
Six different Eagles had hits, including Pickford, who finished 2-for-3 and added an RBI. Lewis went 1-for-4, with two RBI and a run. Lightbody, Montoya, Donato and junior right fielder/pitcher
Taikibrea Campbell each added a hit. Spencer, Lightbody and Lewis all scored.
Sophia Olman and Karson Davey had two hits apiece for the victors. Olman and Kendall Grover both scored twice. Marybeth Dyson led the team with two RBI.
Junior
Rylie Burney took the loss and fell to 0-11. She pitched four innings, allowed three runs (all earned) on three hits, with two walks and one strikeout. Campbell finished the game, throwing two innings and surrendering four runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks. She did not have a strikeout.
Oslanzi (8-7) collected the win. She went five innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits, with seven strikeouts and no walks. McKenzie went two innings without yielding a hit or run. She finished with three strikeouts and a walk, and picked up her second save of the season.
The two teams will conclude their series tomorrow when they meet for game two at 1 p.m. ET, with the second contest scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.
Live stats are available for both contests at the link:
https://shorturl.at/XVZPA. Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+. Game two can be found at:
https://shorturl.at/hI2oF, with Game three at:
https://shorturl.at/GNrdK.
Morehead State will return home next weekend to host Southern Indiana for a three-game series starting with a Saturday doubleheader at noon and 2:30 p.m., and then conclude with a single contest on Sunday at noon.
