MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State softball team followed up Friday's 9-0 victory over Southern Indiana by winning the first game of Saturday's doubleheader at the University Field at Prefontaine Park in Morehead 5-1 and in so doing, claimed the Ohio Valley Conference series over the Screaming Eagles.
USI came back in the finale and toppled the Eagles 14-4 in five innings.
MSU's two-game win streak was its first since swiping a pair on the road over Western Illinois on March 29-30 of last year. It also was the team's first series win since those WIU matchups.
For the second straight game, the Eagles' pitching was solid. Junior
Rylie Burney went the distance again and surrendered one run on six hits, with one walk and no strikeouts. It was only her third seven-inning outing of the year and the first allowing fewer than three walks.
"Rylie pitched a great game. She stayed in control the whole time and our defense backed her up," MSU coach
Megan Griffith said. "And unlike a lot of our recent games, we did a nice job of moving our runners around the bases and driving them in with timely hits."
Southern Indiana (6-17/3-5) opened the first game with Caroline Stapleton bunting and then scoring on a three-base throwing error.
However, from that point forward it was all MSU.
As was the case Friday, Morehead State (3-26/2-7) did its damage in the third inning.
With one out, junior first baseman
Jordan Donato singled, then junior right fielder
Taikibrea Campbell singled. Donato eventually landed at third due to an error and Campbell stole second base. Sophomore shortstop
Sela Pickford was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Freshman second baseman
Victoria Spencer reached on a fielding error that allowed Donato to score. Senior center fielder
Darlene Montoya drew a bases-loaded walk, pushing Campbell home. Then with two outs, freshman designated player
Nyla Doiron doubled off the fence in center field, clearing the bases.
Listen to Doiron discuss the team's play and her double on MSU's YouTube channel.
Neither team threatened again until the top of the fifth when USI used a pair of hits to get two runners into scoring position with two outs. However, the inning ended with a ground out.
The visitors used a hit and an error to get runners to second and third in the sixth, but again a ground out ended their threat.
Alyssa Murnaw singled to lead off the USI seventh, but the farthest she could advance was second base.
MSU finished with five hits, although a sixth got away from it on what turned out to be a fielder's choice to the outfield. As has been the case for much of the year, the hits were scattered throughout the lineup.
Sophomore third baseman
Kendra Lewis, sophomore left fielder
Maddy Christopher, Donato, Campbell and Doiron all had hits. Pickford, Spencer, Montoya, Donato and Campbell each scored. Doiron led the way with three RBI. Spencer and Montoya also had one apiece.
Stapleton paced the Screaming Eagles with a 2-for-4, run-scoring performance. Four other team members each had one hit.
USI finished the game with six hits but left seven runners on base. MSU had five hits, but just three runners on base. The visitors had two errors, the hosts had three.
Kylie Witthaus (2-6) pitched all six innings for Southern Indiana. She surrendered five runs on five hits, but just two earned runs. She also had three strikeouts and a walk.
In the second game, Morehead State's lack of pitching options caught up with it.
"Rylie just ran out of gas. With severely limited pitching options, we knew that we were going to have to rely on her heavily. And it was going to be tough to ask her to pitch three straight complete games," Griffith said. "However, I can't argue with winning the series and that was our goal."
Burney, who threw every inning of the first two contests in the series, went to the circle as the starter, but she lasted just one inning before yielding to Pickford. The Eagle shortstop gave up two hits, before the inning ended on a double play. Jordan Mackey's two-run homer to center field gave the visitors a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the frame, MSU benefited from a Montoya single and a Lewis walk, but that was all of the offense the Eagles could muster until the fourth inning.
The floodgates opened in the third, when three straight hits, including another Mackey two-run home run to center field, forced the Eagles to turn to Campbell, who then proceeded to walk four and hit a batter before the inning ended.
Junior
Alivia Parks made her first pitching appearance since the second weekend of the series to start the fourth, but she too could not slow the Screaming Eagle bats. The visitors manufactured six runs off two hits, four walks, an error and a hit batsman.
MSU got on the board in the fourth inning. Lewis had a single and Doiron notched her second double of the afternoon. With two outs, a Christopher single drove in Lewis and Donato followed with another RBI single. Campbell closed out the scoring with an RBI double to left-center field. In total, the Eagles registered five hits and scored three times.
Burney returned to the circle and finished the game by pitching the fifth. USI got two runners on base courtesy of a single and a walk in its final plate appearances.
Morehead State picked up a home run from Lewis, whose shot went over the fence in center field for her second blast of the campaign. But it was not enough to stop the game's early ending after five innings.
Lewis led the way for the Eagles, who finished with seven hits. She was 2-for-2, with two runs and an RBI and a walk.
Montoya, Doiron, Christopher, Donato and Campbell each added a hit. Lewis, Christopher, Donato and Campbell had an RBI. Doiron and Christopher also scored.
For the third straight game of the weekend, the Eagles did a nice job of moving its runners around the bases, finishing with just four LOBs.
Southern Indiana busted out for 10 hits and 13 RBI, and yet still stranded seven runners on base. Mackey led the way by finishing 2-for-3, with four RBI and two runs. Pitcher Josie Newman contributed with a 2-for-2, three-RBI, run-scoring performance. Eight Screaming Eagles had hits, 10 scored and six had RBI.
Burney moved to 2-13 with the two decisions. She allowed two runs on three hits, with a walk and a strikeout in two innings of work in the finale. Pickford lasted one and one-third innings, surrendering three runs on five hits. She had a strikeout, but no walks. Campbell pitched two-thirds of an inning, yielding five walks and three runs, although did not allow a hit. She also did not collect a strikeout. Parks went one inning and finished with six runs on two hits with four walks and a strikeout.
Southern Indiana did not commit an error in the finale. MSU finished with two.
USI held onto its lead in the series, 8-6, but MSU improved to 5-3 at home.
Morehead State will conclude its four-game home stand on Wednesday, when it entertains Bellarmine for a single contest at 3 p.m. Next weekend, the Blue and Gold will be back on the road, where it will face Tennessee State in a three-game series starting Saturday.
