MOREHEAD, Ky. – A late offensive surge by Saturday's opponents sent the Morehead State softball team to a pair run-rule defeats at day two of the Blues City Invitational at the Tigers Softball Complex in Memphis, Tenn.
MSU trailed 4-3 entering the bottom of the fourth inning against Northern Illinois, only to allow seven runs over the next two and a third frames and fall 11-3 in six innings. In the nightcap, the Eagles sat tied 3-3 with Indiana State entering the bottom of the fourth, before surrendering eight over the next 1.2 innings.
The late starting times did not help. Scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. CT, the ISU game did not begin until 10:19 p.m. CT as the final contest out of six played on Saturday on the University of Memphis' field. That game ended at 12:39 a.m. No records are available for the latest start or finish of a game, but it is imaginable that Saturday's second outing ranks near the top.
"We were competitive early in both games today, but couldn't sustain that through to the end," said MSU head coach
Megan Griffith. "'Red' (Campbell) led our offense today with two homers."
The Eagles surrendered 13 hits and committed five errors against NIU and followed by allowing 12 hits against ISU, in their second meeting against the Sycamores in two days. Morehead State (0-8) did clean up its defense in the nightcap, marking the third time this season the Blue and Gold played flawlessly in the field.
MSU started the game with Northern Illinois (3-4) by collecting singles by junior center fielder
Maddy Christopher and sophomore third baseman
Victoria Spencer in two of its first three plate appearances.
However, the Huskies answered with four runs on four hits with two errors in the bottom of the frame to pull to the early lead.
The Eagles benefited from a Northern Illinois error in the second to get another baserunner, but like in the first inning, were unable to drive in a run.
The defense kept the Huskies at bay in their half of the second, before MSU got on the board in the top of the third courtesy of doubles by Christopher and Spencer, with the latter scoring the former with a two-out shot down the left-field line.
Behind a pair of strikeouts, NIU went down in order in the third and Morehead State drew within a run in the top of the fourth after senior right fielder
Taikibrea Campbell hit her second home run of the season with a two-out shot to deep left field that also scored redshirt sophomore left fielder
Marie Perdew. Playing for the first time this spring, junior first baseman
Noemye Letendre drew a walk on four pitches and Christopher picked up her third hit of the night with an infield single. However, both were left stranded.
Northern Illinois tallied four runs on three hits with three errors in the bottom of the fourth to break the game open. It went scoreless in the fifth after only recording a single but finished the contest after one out in the sixth by notching three runs on four hits.
Christopher finished 3-for-3 with a run, while Spencer was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Campbell added the final hit.
Eleven Huskies recorded a hit, with Danielle Stewart leading the way with a 2-for-3, two-run, one-RBI performance. Izzi Hanna added two hits and a run.
Junior
Ainsley Stubbs fell to 0-3 after pitching three and a third innings. She allowed eight runs (six earned) on nine hits, with five strikeouts and one walk. Senior
Rylie Burney finished the final two frames and gave up three runs on four hits. She struck out two and did not surrender a walk.
Lily Cassell (1-1) went three and two-thirds innings, surrendering three runs on five hits. She struck out five and walked one. Taylor Mackin threw two and one-third shutout innings. She allowed one hit and struck out two.
Indiana State (8-5) scored four times in the first benefitting from three hits, including a triple and a double.
Campbell had a two-out single in the second to give the Blue and Gold its first hit of the nightcap. Perdew was hit by a pitch but the pair could get no farther than second base.
The Sycamores drew a walk and notched an infield single in the bottom of the stanza but could not get either home.
Morehead State got on the board in the third after Christopher singled, junior second baseman
Sage VanDemark doubled and Spencer pushed Christopher home with the Eagles' fourth sacrifice fly of the young season.
ISU went three-up, three-down in the bottom of the third, before MSU tied the score in the top of the fourth. Junior shortstop
Sela Pickford led off with a single and Campbell followed with a home run over the left-field fence. The Eagles kept the pressure on as Perdew and Letendre recorded back-to-back singles, but a fielder's choice and a strikeout ended the threat.
Indiana State's bats came alive in the bottom of the inning. A one-out bases-clearing double down the left-field line by Madison Poulson put the Sycamores back in front. The home team on the scoreboard then needed just two outs to draw the game to a close by manufacturing five runs on five hits in the fifth, finishing it off with a sacrifice fly. ISU got a two-run single from Poulson and a two-run double by Mallory Chavez to solidify the victory.
Campbell got two of MSU's seven hits and finished 2-for-2, with two RBI and a run. Christopher, VanDemark, Pickford, Perdew and Letendre all had a hit.
Poulson went 4-for-4, with six RBI and two runs to pace the victors. Chavez and Bella Putsateri each collected two hits, while Morgan Goodrich scored three times. Chavez also contributed three RBI, while Claire Connelly had two.
Burney got the start and faced four batters before yielding to Stubbs. Burney returned in the fourth and finished that inning and started the fifth, finishing the game with one inning of total work. Despite allowing eight runs on six hits with no strikeouts and four walks, she received no decision. Stubbs (0-3) threw three and one-third innings in relief, giving up three runs on five hits, striking out four and walking two. Freshman
Allicen Harris finished the game pitching one-third of an inning. She faced two batters and gave up one hit.
Caylee Gaytan started and threw for three innings, before yielding to Megan Asher. Gaytan allowed three runs on six hits, with one strikeout and no walks. Asher moved to 1-0 on the year after pitching two scoreless innings and surrendering just one hit. She also had two strikeouts and no walks.
It'll be a quick turnaround for the Blue and Gold, who finish their stay at the tournament with a scheduled 11 a.m. local time start on Sunday. It will be slightly more than 10 hours after Saturday's finale. The Eagles will face North Carolina A&T, who earlier in the day defeated the host Tigers 8-5 for its first win of the tournament.
Morehead State will travel to the Eagle Hub City Classic next weekend to conclude their tournament portion of the schedule. The Blue and Gold will open up both its home and Ohio Valley Conference slate by hosting defending regular-season and tournament champion Eastern Illinois for three games on May 7-8.
