MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State softball team climbed out of a 7-0 hole by scoring eight unanswered runs, capped off by two in the seventh courtesy of singles from redshirt sophomore left fielder
Marie Perdew, junior first baseman
Noemye Letendre and junior second baseman
Sage VanDemark, as MSU topped Lamar 8-7 in the first meeting between the two schools in the opening game of the Eagle Hub City Classic at the Southern Miss Softball Complex in Hattiesburg, Miss.
VanDemark's walk off shot down the third baseline gave the Eagles their first win of the season and snapped a streak of defeats away from home that stretched back to mid-February of 2025.
It was the largest deficit Morehead State (1-10) had overcome at the start of the game to pull out a win in well over a decade.
"It was good to see the pieces we've been working on come together. It was a great team win with offense battling back from a deficit," said MSU head coach
Megan Griffith. "We had timely hitting and continued to make adjustments at the plate to find a way to get it done. Defense was sound behind our pitchers and had strong performances both in the grass and on the dirt."
The Eagles came right back in the very next game and despite battling down to the wire fell to Jackson State (8-5) 2-1. It marked the third straight outing and the fifth time this season that MSU played a game decided by one run.
JSU scored once in the second and both teams scored a run in the fifth.
Morehead State got on the board after a run-scoring double by junior center fielder
Maddy Christopher.
"It was a hard-fought game. Both pitchers had strong performances," Griffith said. "Hitters struggled a bit to capitalize on opportunities. Defense played another solid game and kept us close the full seven (innings)."
More to come later.
The Blue and Gold will again play back-to-back on Saturday in the second day of the Eagle Hub City Classic. The Eagles will face host Southern Miss (9-8) at 5:30 p.m. ET and Chattanooga (8-9-1) at 8 p.m. ET, before concluding their stay with another game against Lamar on Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.
