MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State softball team continues to see progress but the wins remain elusive as the Eagles dropped a pair of games on Friday in Day 1 of the Blues City Invitational at the Tigers Softball Complex in Memphis, Tenn.
MSU used a five-hit, four-run rally in the seventh inning of game one against Bradley, before eventually falling in the eighth inning, 7-6. In game two, the Blue and Gold played toe-to-toe with Indiana State, before surrendering four runs in the final three frames to fall 5-0.
In both cases, Eagle coach
Megan Griffith saw positives from her pitching staff.
"Ainsley (Stubbs) had a good outing, and Rylie (Burney) came into relief with a strong appearance which was exciting to see," she said of game one.
"Allicen (Harris) had a good outing and Ainsley came in strong. Defense was much sharper and played well behind our pitchers," she added about game two.
In both outings, the Eagles struggled out of the gate.
The visitors on the scoreboard, Bradley (4-7) scored four times on two hits, two errors and a wild pitch, forcing Morehead State (0-6) to have to play catchup the rest of the afternoon.
After the opening stanza, the Eagles retired 15 of the next 22 batters, including going three-up, three-down in the second and fifth.
MSU put runners on base in the bottom of the first four innings but could not get anyone across the plate. The team's best chance to get on the board came when it had two runners in scoring position in the second.
Both teams scored once in the third. Olivia Turner had an RBI single in the top of the frame, while junior catcher
Sydney Farmer countered with a sacrifice fly to right field to score junior center fielder
Maddy Christopher in the bottom of the inning.
The score remained 5-1 until the bottom of the sixth when Farmer led off with a walk and advanced to third on senior first baseman
Jordan Donato's single. Sophomore
Nyla Doiron came in to pinch hit and plated Farmer on a sacrifice fly to center field.
The Braves led off the seventh benefitting from a single, wild pitch and walk, before the Eagles retired the next two batters. However, a throwing error on the ensuing play allowed BU to tack on another run.
Morehead State rallied in the seventh. With one out, the Blue and Gold recorded five singles and a sac fly on consecutive at bats to draw the score even.
"It started off with Maddy beating out an infield ground ball and then (junior designated player) Sage (VanDemark) and (junior shortstop) Sela (Pickford) did a good job making adjustments and hitting hard line drives," Griffith said. "Farmer sat on a change and went oppo(site field) making another good adjustment and then Jo (Donato) found a way to score Sela, and then (sophomore third baseman) Vic (Spencer) came up with a hard double to tie us up. It was a good rally."
Bradley's Ella Shafer led off the eighth with a single down the left-field line. A fielder's choice put Shafer out, but the batter, Kierston McCoy eventually reached second on a wild pitch. Morgan Scholosser followed with an RBI double to put the Braves back in front.
The Eagles hit three balls to the outfield in the bottom of the eighth, but none of them fell to the ground.
Bradley finished with 11 hits and one error. Morehead State tallied nine hits and made three errors. The Eagles also set are what is believed to be a pair of records, with three sacrifice flies as a team, including two from Farmer, which ties a mark held by two players, including Doiron.
Christopher extended her team-best hitting streak to five, before finishing 2-for-5, with two runs. Three other Eagles had two hits. VanDemark went 2-for-3, with a run. Donato and Spencer also were 2-for-3, with Donato adding a run and RBI; while Spencer had an RBI. Pickford contributed a hit, run and RBI. Farmer had two RBI and scored, and Doiron had an RBI.
All nine Bradley batters had at least one hit, with Schlosser and Shafer tallying two apiece. McCoy, Austin Comstock and Ashley Breeding each scored twice. Four players drove in a run.
Stubbs pitched six innings before yielding to Burney. Stubbs allowed three earned runs (six total) on nine hits, with five strikeouts and three walks. Burney (0-2) took the loss after throwing two innings. She surrendered two hits and a run. She did not have a strikeout or walk.
Gianna Hillegonds (1-1) picked up the win. She went the distance allowing six runs on nine hits. She had two strikeouts and walked four.
In game two, Indiana State (6-5) scored in the opening inning after getting its first three batters on base. A bases-loaded wild pitch gave the Sycamores the lead.
ISU only put two runners on base over the next three innings, while MSU had three hits over that stretch, including having runners on first and third with two outs in the fourth.
The Sycamores stretched out their advantage by scoring twice in the fifth courtesy of two hits, two stolen bases and an error.
Indiana State added a run in both the sixth and seventh, recording the first on a Hannah Welch home run to begin the sixth.
Farmer singled to left field with two outs in the sixth, redshirt sophomore left fielder
Marie Perdew was hit by a pitch with one out in the seventh and the next batter, Doiron, followed with a single through the right side, but that was the extent of the Eagles' rally.
ISU scored its five runs on seven hits, while the Blue and Gold mustered just four. Both teams committed one error.
Pickford, Farmer, Spencer and Doiron each had singles to pace MSU's offense.
Morgan Goodrich finished 2-for-2 with three runs, and Mallory Chavez went 2-for-4 with two RBI to lead Indiana State.
Harris (0-2) pitched five and two-thirds innings for the Eagles. She surrendered six hits, four runs, three earned runs, with three strikeouts and two walks. Senior
Emma Solis entered for two-thirds of an inning and yielded one run on two walks and a wild pitch. She also had one strikeout. Stubbs recorded the final two outs, giving up one hit, while striking out one.
Lauren Sackett (4-2) earned the complete-game win. She pitched a four-hit shutout, striking out eight and walking one.
Morehead State returns Saturday to play two more times, starting with Northern Illinois at 6 p.m. ET and Indiana State again at 8 p.m. ET. The Eagles close out the weekend with a single game on Sunday, facing North Carolina A&T at noon ET.
