MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State softball team began its practice for the spring 2026 campaign on Monday, Jan. 5. The Eagles are preparing for their Feb. 7 season opener at Presbyterian's Blue Hose Invitational. Due to the weather, most of the training time has come inside the Prefontaine Field House.
"Our prep week is incredibly mentally and physically challenging, and our players rose to the occasion," fourth-year head coach
Megan Griffith said. "They worked extremely hard, and it was great to see the concepts and skills we covered in the Fall show up naturally in the start of the Spring. This is a highly competitive squad, and it's been a lot of fun to watch them get after it."
The Eagles started slowly in 2025 but recovered to win seven of their final 23 games before finishing with an 8-41 overall record and a 6-20 Ohio Valley Conference mark.
The Blue and Gold actually achieved noticeable offensive success. In at least nine key categories, Morehead State posted its highest totals in numerous years. On the season, the team had more home runs than any year since 2019; more hits than any season since 2016; more runs and RBI, and fewer strikeouts than any campaign since 2013; more walks than any year since 2011 and more doubles than any season since 2009. The Eagles improved their batting average by 52 points and posted their highest mark since 2013. Their eight triples matched the 2023 total but were more than any other year since 2017. They also had 12 games with double-digit hits, the most since 2016.
Ten players return from last year's team, including seven letter winners, six positional starters and all three pitchers. In addition, Coach Griffith infused the roster with 11 newcomers.
Most of the key offensive performers return, including All-OVC First-Team selection junior outfielder
Maddy Christopher and Second-Team pick, junior shortstop
Sela Pickford.
Christopher finished the campaign hitting .368, scoring 27 runs, collecting 57 hits in 155 at-bats, with three doubles, 11 RBI, 60 total bases, seven walks and seven stolen bases, while recording a .387 slugging percentage and a .395 on-base percentage over 48 games, all of which she started. She also notched a 14-game hitting streak, from March 30 to April 27, the second longest known mark in MSU history.
Christopher's batting average was the 10th best in MSU history. She also tied for seventh in single-season hits and tied for second with 55 singles. In the OVC, she ranked seventh in batting average, fifth in hits and seventh in at-bats. She led the team in batting average, hits, sacrifice bunts and stolen bases.
Pickford compiled a .331 batting average, with 157 at bats, 25 runs, 52 hits, 12 doubles, three triples, four home runs, 28 RBI, 82 total bases, 11 walks, three total sacrifices, a .522 slugging percentage, a .380 on-base percentage and a .966 fielding percentage. Like Christopher, she started every game she played (49). She even saw spot duty pitching, appearing in nine games, with a 0-2 record, a 6.13 ERA, with four strikeouts and three walks in 16 innings.
Pickford also recorded the longest hitting streak on record at MSU at 15 games, from March 30 to May 3. She also opened the year with a nine-game hitting streak.
She finished seventh in hits, 10th in doubles, tied for fourth in triples, seventh in total bases, third in assists (112) and tied for eighth in fielding double plays (seven) in the OVC. She led the team in doubles, triples and at-bats.
Sophomore infielder
Victoria Spencer, sophomore catcher/infielder
Nyla Doiron, senior infielder
Jordan Donato and senior outfielder
Taikibrea Campbell all return as starters. Spencer batted .246, with 18 runs and 15 RBI in 43 games. Doiron also hit .246 and added 10 doubles, 26 RBI and a .333 on-base percentage in 45 outings. Donato posted a .222 batting average, with 12 walks and a .301 on-base percentage in 46 contests. Campbell, the lone four-year team member, finished with a .215 batting average, nine doubles, 15 RBI and a .308 on-base percentage.
Sophomore outfielder
Sophie Collins was a part-time starter in her first season. Over 36 games, she batted .208, with 14 walks and a .330 on-base percentage.
Senior pitchers
Rylie Burney,
Emma Solis and
Alivia Parks are also back. It is the first time since 2009 that the entire pitching staff returns from the previous year (although positional players also pitched in 2025). Burney finished the campaign with a 5-21 record, a 6.54 ERA and 48 strikeouts over 153 innings. She ranked among the OVC leaders in total appearances (second), games started (tied for second), innings pitched (fourth) and complete games (fifth). Solis saw action in 31 games and went 3-15, with an 8.83 ERA and 51 strikeouts. Parks pitched in only 2.1 innings and is expected to move to a more offensive-oriented role this spring.
Eleven newcomers will be on the roster this spring. Junior right-handed pitcher
Ainsley Stubbs [Columbia, Mo. (Gulf Coast State Coll./Battle HS)] and freshman right-handed pitcher/first baseman
Allicen Harris [Benton, Ky. (Marshall County HS)] will be heavily counted upon in the rotation.
Stubbs was a second-team all-conference honoree in junior college and a second-team all-region and all-conference pitcher in 2022 at Battle High School. As a sophomore at GCSC, she finished with a 14-12 record, a 2.73 ERA and 5.18 strikeouts per game.
Harris, a Class 3A honorable mention all-state selection as a senior, helped lead her club to a region title and a state tournament appearance. She completed her final season with a 23-5 record, a 2.25 ERA, 180 strikeouts and 24 walks in 162.0 innings. She also batted .419, with 47 RBI, 11 homers and 12 doubles as a senior for the Lady Marshals.
Utility player
Noemye Lentendre [Drummondville, Quebec, Canada (Lake Land Coll./Polyvalente Marie-Rivier HS)], catcher/third baseman
Sydney Farmer [Hemet, Calif. (Tyler JC/Heritage HS)], shortstop
Sage VanDemark [Queen Creek, Ariz. (UNLV/New Mexico State/Chandler HS)] and first baseman
Mia Mascarenas [Houston, Texas (Barton CC/Barbers Hill HS) all join the squad as junior transfers.
Lentendre was an all-region second-team pick after batting .401, with 12 doubles, 13 home runs and 62 RBI as a sophomore. Farmer hit .434, with 23 doubles, 14 homers and 81 RBI last year. VanDemark saw limited action at UNLV (2025) and New Mexico State (2024), after being a two-time all-region player at Chandler High School. Mascarenas hit .341, with 28 RBI in 34 games for the 35-16 Barton Community College Cougars last spring.
Sophomore third baseman/utility player
Kyleigh Reiter also enters as a transfer. She played one season at Dordt University an NAIA school in Sioux Center, Iowa. A Mansfield, Mich., native, she batted .221, while starting 27 games for the Defenders. Redshirt sophomore
Marie Perdew [Short Gap, W.Va. (South Carolina State/Frankfort HS)] was a member of the MSU women's basketball team last year but joins the softball club this spring as an infielder. As a softball player in high school, she was named honorable mention all-state twice and first-team all-conference, all-area and all-county once each.
The final three team members are all freshmen. Utility player
Kylie Mann comes from Lake City, Minn., and Lincoln High School. She was an all-state selection as a senior, plus a three-time all-section, four-time all-conference, three-time all-region and all-area performer during her career. As a senior, she boasted a .530 batting average, with 10 home runs, 30 RBI and no strikeouts. Catcher/utility player
Kendall Donato is the younger sister of
Jordan Donato. Kendall is from Walton, Ky. She spent the previous year at Northern Kentucky, although she did not play for the Norse. As a senior at Walton-Verona High School two years ago, she hit .457, with 30 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 70 at-bats over 24 games. Third baseman/shortstop
Cheyenne Christman hails from New Hill, N.C., and Apex Friendship High School. Christman was ranked by Extra Innings as the No. 40 infielder in the Southeast as well as the No. 97 infielder nationally. She was a four-time all-conference and all-district choice, and a two-time all-state selection in high school.
Six individuals do not return from last season's team, and their production will look to be replaced. That group includes three starters: outfielder
Darlene Montoya (.295 BA, three home runs, 28 RBI) and catcher/utility player
Ilencia Lightbody (.221 BA, seven doubles), who both graduated, and All-OVC Second-Team infielder
Kendra Lewis (.351 BA, 10 doubles, 31 RBI, 28 walks, six stolen bases), who transferred.
The Eagles have 51 games scheduled for 2026, with 19 coming in four early-season tournaments, plus 27 Ohio Valley Conference games.
