MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State did everything it could to win the final game of its softball series with Eastern Illinois on Monday, but the Panthers came up with key hits at critical times to slip away with a 6-5 victory at Williams Field in Charleston, Ill.
The list of things MSU did well was noteworthy.
Morehead State (1-25/0-6) out-hit Eastern Illinois (13-13/5-1) 13-10. It had a no-hitter through two innings. It either led or sat tied with the Panthers up until the bottom of the sixth inning. It had runners on base in every inning. It had six players with multiple hits. It equaled EIU in errors. It had the tying run at third base and the winning run at first when the game ended.
"Simply heartbreaking," said MSU coach
Megan Griffith. "I was impressed how well we hit the ball. We drove (Ohio Valley Conference Pitcher of the Week and reigning OVC Freshman of the Year McKenzie) Oslanzi from the game for the second time in this series and Sela (Pickford) pitched well for having so little experience. Stranding so many runners was our Achilles' Heel."
The one-run decision was just the first this season for the Blue and Gold, but the second time in two years against EIU, a team that now holds a 23-game winning streak in the series and has won the last 16 in Charleston.
MSU had hits in every inning, but at the end of the day it had stranded 10 runners, the seventh time in the last 10 games it left seven or more on base. In total, it had eight runners in scoring position, including six at third base, when the inning ended. The only time MSU did not reach third base was in the first inning.
The Eagles opened the third inning with three straight hits and a walk, leading to a 2-0 advantage. Sophomore shortstop/pitcher
Sela Pickford, freshman second baseman
Victoria Spencer and senior center fielder
Darlene Montoya singled on consecutive at-bats, with Montoya's shot to left field driving Pickford home. After sophomore third baseman/shortstop
Kendra Lewis walked, the Panthers removed starting pitcher McKenzie Oslanzi for Karlie McKenzie. Senior catcher
Ilencia Lightbody reached on a fielder's choice and then freshman first baseman/third baseman
Nyla Doiron sent Montoya home after a sacrifice fly that was caught at the right-field fence near the dugout.
The hosts tied the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the inning after two hits, including a two-run homer by OVC Player of the Week Kendall Grover, whose shot went over the fence down the left-field line.
The Eagles retook the lead in the fifth. Montoya led off with a single, moved up on a passed ball and then to third on a Lewis single. After Lewis stole second, Doiron singled to left-center field to drive in both runners.
Eastern Illinois went in front for the first time in the sixth inning, at which point the Eagles made their third pitching change of the afternoon. Ten batters came to the plate for the Panthers, who collected seven hits and scored four times. Two of the runs came in on Abbi Hatton's single up the middle.
Morehead State made a valiant final push in the top of the seventh. After two outs, junior designated player
Taikibrea Campbell walked, sophomore left fielder
Maddy Christopher singled and freshman right fielder
Sophie Collins reached on a fielding error. The latter play allowed sophomore pinch runner
Azea Lightbody to score. However, the game ended during the next at-bat, with Christopher at third base and Collins at first.
Christopher (3-for-3), Doiron (2-for-3, three RBI), Montoya (2-for-4, two runs, RBI), Lewis (2-for-3, run), Pickford (2-for-5, run) and Spencer (2-for-4) all had outstanding days at the plate.
Azea Lightbody had the team's other run.
Eight Panthers collected hits. Hatton finished 2-for-3, with two RBI, while Maddux Marshall also was 2-for-3. All six runs were scored by different players.
Junior
Rylie Burney started and threw one inning and then finished the game with another inning of work. Pickford pitched the four innings in between and suffered the loss, the first decision of her career. Despite just making her third appearance of the season, Pickford pitched a clean second inning, before getting into trouble in the third. She also retired the side in the fifth. In total, she allowed five runs on six hits, with no strikeouts or walks. Burney surrendered one run on four hits, with two walks and no strikeouts.
The third Panther pitcher, Bryanna French (2-3) got the win. She threw for two innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits, with one walk and one strikeout. Oslanzi, the starter, went two innings, giving up two runs on six hits, with two strikeouts and one walk. McKenzie pitched the middle three innings, surrendering two runs on five hits, with one strikeout and one walk.
Game two stood in stark contrast to game one for the Eagles, who fell 9-0 in five innings.
The Panthers scored twice in the first, four times in the third and three times in the fourth en route to the victory. MSU only had two hits and left three runners on base. Neither team committed an error.
Morehead State's best chance to score came in the top of the second when
Ilencia Lightbody walked and junior first baseman
Jordan Donato singled. Both moved up a base on
Taikibrea Campbell's sacrifice bunt, but that's where the threat ended.
"Sela really had a solid day today and we did a really nice job in the field in the first game," Griffith said.
Pickford and Donato each had hits for the Blue and Gold. Grover finished 3-for-3, with three runs and an RBI. Karson Davey went 2-for-2, with two runs and an RBI. Marshall added two RBI. A total of six Panthers had both hits and runs.
Burney, who pitched in all three games over the weekend, suffered the loss to drop to 0-12. She allowed six runs (all earned) on eight hits, with four walks and no strikeouts. Campbell faced five batters in the fourth, and ended with three runs (all earned) on one hit, with three walks and one hit batsman.
McKenzie improved to 3-3 with the win. She yielded two hits in four innings of shutout softball. She also had two strikeouts and a walk. French pitched a perfect fifth, with two ground outs and a fly out.
It was the end of the home-opening series for EIU and the final of four consecutive road games for MSU. The hosts have now won four straight overall and six in a row at home.
Morehead State will open a four-game home stand this weekend, when it entertains Southern Indiana for two contests on Saturday (noon and 2:30 p.m.) and then a single outing on Sunday (noon). The Eagles also will host Bellarmine on Wednesday, Mar. 26, for one game at 3 p.m.
