MOREHEAD, Ky. – After a one-week break, the Morehead State softball team will head south to Memphis, Tenn., for the seven-team, 17-game Blues City Invitational. The Eagles will play five times over the weekend, beginning Friday against Bradley (2 p.m. ET) and Indiana State (6 p.m. ET). On Saturday, they face Northern Illinois (6 p.m. ET) and Indiana State (8 p.m. ET), before concluding the tournament with a meeting with North Carolina A&T on Sunday (noon ET). All games will be played at the Tigers Softball Complex in Memphis.
Host Memphis and Kentucky are also participating. Competition opens on Friday at 10 a.m. ET, with the final game coming on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.
Morehead State (0-4) had its scheduled contests at the George Mason Tournament canceled last weekend due to weather. The Blue and Gold was slated to face the host Patriots three times and Cornell twice between February 13-15. Consequently, MSU has not played in 12 days since dropping a 3-2 decision to host Presbyterian at the Blue Hose Invitational.
"We're looking forward to getting after it this weekend. We were able to turn last weekend's cancellations into some great practice opportunities," Morehead State coach
Megan Griffith said. "We've been stacking a lot of good days at practice, so we're ready to see them compete this weekend."
MSU dropped all four of its contests at the Blue Host Invitational: 16-3 in five innings to Western Michigan, 19-16 to Le Moyne, 9-3 to Dayton and then Presbyterian. It is 0-4 on the road this year with its last win away from home coming on February 15, 2025, a stretch of 29 outings.
The Blue and Gold improved its play in each game of the tournament, with its best outing coming against the host Blue Hose. That outing featured a stellar pitching performance by freshman
Allicen Harris. The team also got strong offensive contributions from a trio of juniors: catcher/third baseman
Sydney Farmer (.429 batting average, seven runs, five extra base hits, five RBI, a 1.143 slugging percentage and a .429 on-base percentage), shortstop
Sage VanDemark (.429 BA, four runs, six RBI, two walks, a .714 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage) and outfielder
Maddy Christopher (.429 BA, four runs, a .429 slugging percentage and a .467 on-base percentage). Christopher was the only player to have a hit in each outing.
Pitching remains a concern. Harris leads the way with a 0-1 record, a 4.90 ERA, four strikeouts and two walks in 10 innings. Senior
Rylie Burney pitched six and one-third innings, and owns a 0-1 record, with a 16.58 ERA, six strikeouts and seven walks. Junior
Ainsley Stubbs is 0-2, with a 21.00 ERA, four strikeouts and seven walks in six and two-thirds innings.
As a team, the Eagles continue to be an offensive force. They are batting .286, scoring six runs per game, with four home runs, three stolen bases, a 12.78 ERA and a .962 fielding percentage. Their opponents average .414 batting, with 11.75 rpg, three home runs, five stolen bases, a 3.77 ERA and an .895 fielding percentage.
After its first tournament last spring (the Pinnacle Blue Hose Invitational also at Presbyterian), MSU hit .294, averaged 3.6 rpg, had no home runs, seven stolen bases, a 6.53 ERA and a .933 fielding percentage. Its opponents finished with a .367 batting average, 8.4 rpg, three homers, 12 stolen bases, a 2.76 ERA and a .955 fielding percentage.
The Eagles lead the series with both Bradley and N.C. A&T (2-0) and have never met Northern Illinois. Only Indiana State (4-1) holds an advantage over MSU. Morehead State topped BU 2-1 in 2002 and 11-10 in 2016, and defeated A&T 8-3 and 5-0 at the start of 2020. The Eagles and Sycamores last met in 2012, when MSU picked up an 8-2 win at the Hilltopper Spring Classic in Bowling Green, Ky.
Last spring, Bradley finished 25-30, with Indiana State at 19-33, Northern Illinois at 21-30 and North Carolina A&T at 12-38.
Bradley (3-6) had its most recent game against Binghamton canceled and finished 1-3 this past weekend at the War Eagle Classic. There it fell to Auburn (13-5 and 14-3) and Illinois (10-5). Its lone win came against Binghamton 9-3. The Braves are 1-5 in their last six outings. BU is 3-6 away from home this season.
As a team, it is batting .269, with 6.78 rpg, 10 homers, five stolen bases, a 10.17 ERA and a .944 fielding percentage. Its opponents have a .368 batting average, 9.33 rpg, 14 homers, 21 stolen bases, a 5.22 ERA and a .931 fielding percentage.
Senior utility Austin Comstock leads the team with a .500 batting average, nine runs, two home runs, five RBI, an .893 slugging percentage and a .533 on-base percentage. Sophomore infielder Morgan Scholosser follows with a .419 batting average, eight runs, two homers, seven RBI, a .774 slugging percentage and a .419 on-base percentage. Senior utility player Kierston McCoy owns the most home runs (three) and RBI (11), while batting .250, with a .688 slugging percentage and a .314 on-base percentage.
Sophomore Abby Rusher has seen the most time in the circle working 28 and two-thirds innings. She is 1-3, with a 6.84 ERA, 19 strikeouts and 13 walks. Senior Kinsley Robertson is 0-1, with a 9.88 ERA, five strikeouts and 12 walks in 11 and one-third innings. Freshman Gianna Hillegonds is 0-1, with a 16.80 ERA, seven strikeouts and 10 walks in 11 and two-thirds innings.
Lauren Gambone was named the team's interim head coach in mid-January. She has a 3-6 record at the school.
Indiana State (5-5) went 3-2 at last weekend's The Fonseca Memorial Tournament at USF, which included wins over Boston College (4-1), Yale (11-1) and DePaul (4-1) in its last three games. It began the event by falling to Kansas (10-4) and host South Florida (4-2). In its first tournament of the season, it split games with UT Martin, winning 3-0 and falling 4-2. This year, it is 5-5 away from home.
As a team, the Sycamores are batting .299, with 3.9 rpg, three home runs, 26 stolen bases, a 3.48 ERA and a .988 fielding percentage. Their opponents have a hitting average of .270, with 3.3 rpg, seven home runs, seven stolen bases, a 3.39 ERA and a .958 fielding percentage.
Sophomore infielder Madison Poulson is hitting .464, with six runs, four RBI, three stolen bases, a .571 slugging percentage and a .516 on-base percentage. Senior outfielder Morgan Goodrich follows with a .440 batting average, 14 runs, nine stolen bases, a .520 slugging percentage and a .600 on-base percentage. Senior utility player Hannah Welch has a .355 batting average, with eight RBI, four stolen bases, a .516 slugging percentage and a .344 on-base percentage. Freshman catcher/infielder Mallory Chavez adds a .346 batting average, two home runs, six RBI, a .615 slugging percentage and a .414 on-base percentage.
Freshman Caylee Gaytan and redshirt senior Lauren Sackett share the bulk of the pitching duties. Gaytan is 2-1, with a 1.20 ERA, one save, 39 strikeouts and seven walks in 35 innings. Sackett is 3-2, with a 2.74 ERA, 21 strikeouts and 12 walks in 23 innings.
Coach Windy Thees is in her second season with the club. She is 24-38 at Indiana State.
Northern Illinois (1-2) opened its season last weekend at the Bevo Classic and only played three of its five scheduled games. Its lone win came against Abilene Christian (7-5). It also fell to Ohio State (7-2) and host and No. 2-ranked Texas (9-1 in six innings). The Huskies are 1-2 away from home and have dropped their last two contests.
NIU is hitting .260 as a group, with 3.33 rpg, one home run, no stolen bases, a 6.41 ERA and a .977 fielding percentage. Its opponents are batting .361, with 7.0 rpg, five home runs, six stolen bases, a 1.84 ERA and a .927 fielding percentage.
Senior pitcher/utility player Danielle Stewart leads the way with a .500 batting average, four runs, an .875 slugging percentage and a .636 on-base percentage. Senior catcher/outfielder Rylie Hartman adds a .500 batting average, two RBI, a .667 slugging percentage and a .571 on-base percentage. Sophomore utility player Mia Morera is hitting .429, with two RBI, a .429 slugging percentage and a .444 on-base percentage.
Four pitchers have thrown between three and six innings, with each appearing in two games. Junior Hannah Bolly is 1-0, with a 1.75 ERA, one strikeout and three walks in four innings. Senior Lily Cassell is 0-1, with a 6.18 ERA, three strikeouts and five walks in five and two-thirds innings. Graduate student Madison Carlson is 0-0, with a 7.00 ERA, three strikeouts and four walks in five innings. Sophomore Taylor Mackin has pitched in three innings, with a 0-0 record, a 4.67 ERA, no strikeouts and three walks.
Coach Kathryn Gleason is in her second season and owns a 22-32 record. She previously coached at Northern Kentucky from 2016-24.
North Carolina A&T (4-7) is coming off a 2-2 finish at the HBCU Collegiate Softball Invitational in Covington, Ga., last weekend. The Aggies started the tournament with wins over Coppin State (5-1) and Bowie State (8-3), before falling to Southern (4-1) and Howard (4-2). The finale against Texas Southern was cancelled. Prior to the HBCU event, N.C. A&T had six straight games that ended outside of seven innings. It is 4-7 away from home this spring.
The Aggies are batting .224 as a team. They average 3.46 rpg, with seven home runs, 13 stolen bases, a 5.89 ERA and a .923 fielding percentage. Their opponents boast a .319 batting average, 7.27 rpg, with 13 home runs, 18 stolen bases, a 3.00 ERA and a .943 fielding percentage.
Junior outfielder Destiny Sims tops the squad with a .361 batting average. She adds five runs, two doubles, six RBI, a .417 slugging percentage and a .378 on-base percentage. Sophomore catcher Tyra Robinson hits .286, with three runs, three homers, eight RBI, a .714 slugging percentage and a .304 on-base percentage. Junior infielder Jamari Moss follows with a batting average of .250, while contributing four runs, two doubles, three homers, seven RBI, eight walks, a .708 slugging percentage and a .455 on-base percentage.
Junior Aaliyah Williams has pitched in 33 innings. She has a 2-2 record, with a 2.55 ERA, 32 strikeouts and 16 walks in 33 innings. Sophomore Lauren Hardy is 1-1, with a 7.39 ERA, 13 strikeouts and 12 walks in 18 innings. Freshman Maliyah Alexander is 0-1, with a 10.50 ERA, seven strikeouts and eight walks in nine and one-third innings.
Jose Gonzalez, Jr., is A&T's head coach and in his third season. He owns a 28-81 record.
Statistics for all five games can be viewed live. The link for game one is
https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=626093, game two is
https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=626095, game three is
https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=626099, game four is
https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=626100 and game five is
https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=626102.
None of the Eagles' contests will be televised.
Morehead State has one final tournament before opening Ohio Valley Conference play at home on March 7 against Eastern Illinois. The Eagles will have five games at the Eagle Hub City Classic in Hattiesburg, Miss., from February 27 to March 1, opening with Lamar (11 a.m. ET) and Jackson State (1:30 p.m. ET) on Friday, Feb. 27.
