CLINTON, S.C. – After surrendering 35 runs over its first two games of the Blue Hose Invitational, the Morehead State softball team received improved pitching and defensive performances on Sunday's Day 2 of the tournament at the PC Softball Complex in Clinton, S.C.
The results were still not what MSU coach
Megan Griffith wanted, but she was impressed by the team's growth from Saturday to Sunday.
"We were a much more competitive team today. We grew a lot from yesterday. I was pleased to see the team take the lessons we learned from Day 1 and make adjustments into Day 2," she said. "Infield play was much sharper and it was good to see Allicen (Harris) throw a competitive seven innings. We'll continue to take the lessons and build together."
Morehead State (0-4) played toe-to-toe with defending Atlantic 10 regular season champion Dayton (3-1) for the first three-and-a-half innings, before the Flyers broke free with a five-run fourth en route to a 9-3 victory. In the second game against Presbyterian, a fourth-inning solo home run proved to be the difference for the host Blue Hose as they won 3-2.
In the opener, both teams scored twice in the first. MSU's first three batters, junior center fielder
Maddy Christopher (infield single), junior designated player
Sage VanDemark (double to center field) and junior shortstop
Sela Pickford (single to center), reached base on hits, with Christopher and VanDemark scoring on separate errors.
UD tallied its runs on a sacrifice fly and an RBI double, but the inning ended with Katelin Goodwin being thrown out at home plate by Christopher in center field.
MSU added a run in the third. Pickford hit a double to center field and eventually scored on an infield fielding error. The Eagles held that lead until the bottom of the fourth, when UD plated five. The sequence began with Goodwin's leadoff triple to left field. The Flyers added a pair of singles, before a two-out three-run double to left-center broke the score open. The Eagles made a change in the circle and Dayton added one final run before the inning ended.
Dayton collected two more runs in the bottom of the fifth and Morehead State could only get one more baserunner over the final two innings.
MSU finished with seven hits, with two apiece from Christopher, Pickford and sophomore third baseman
Victoria Spencer. VanDemark added the other hit. VanDemark, Pickford and senior first baseman
Jordan Donato each recorded RBI; while Christopher, VanDemark and Pickford tallied the runs.
UD registered nine hits, with Katelin Goodwin, Juliana Gonzalez and Izzy Calinski each contributing two. Four players also scored twice. Pinch hitter Soseh Broglin led the way with three RBI.
Junior
Ainsley Stubbs (0-2) got the start and went 3.2 innings, allowing seven runs, six earned runs on six hits in suffering the loss. She struck out two and walked three. Senior
Rylie Burney finished the final 2.1 innings, giving up two unearned runs on three hits, with four strikeouts and three walks.
C. Craig got the start, pitching 2.1 innings with no decision. She surrendered three unearned runs on five hits with no strikeouts or walks. Kate Kastelic picked up the victory in four and two-thirds innings of shutout work. She yielded two hits and a walk, and struck out two.
For the first time on the weekend, Morehead State did not score first in its game with Presbyterian. Instead, the Blue Hose got on the board with two runs off of four straight hits in the bottom of the second.
MSU got one back in the third. Junior
Kylie Mann hit a leadoff double to right-center field. And eventually scored on a Christopher single to left field. The Eagles had two runners on with one out but could not get either across home plate.
Presbyterian added an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth off a home run by Hali Duke. Her two-out shot cleared the fence in center field.
Senior right fielder
Taikibrea Campbell nearly equaled the feat in the top of the fifth, but Morgan Farthing caught the ball at the wall while falling into the padding at the left-field wall.
The Eagles did get a run across in the top of the sixth after Mann scored from second on an error, but the visitors could not put another runner in scoring position the rest of the way.
The Blue and Gold finished with four hits, one each from Christopher, Donato, Mann and Campbell. Christopher and Donato were credited with RBI, while junior catcher
Sydney Farmer and Mann scoring the team's runs.
Duke finished the day 2-for-2, while Farthing also recorded two of PC's five hits to lead the hosts.
Freshman
Allicen Harris went the distance, allowing three earned runs on five hits, with two strikeouts and a walk. Despite posting MSU's best pitching performance of the season, she suffered the loss to drop to 0-1. Kylie Rast pitched seven innings to gain the win. She surrendered two runs (one earned) on four hits, with two strikeouts and two walks.
Morehead State returns to action next weekend when it plays five games in the George Mason Tournament. The Eagles face the host Patriots twice on Friday, then meet Cornell and George Mason again on Saturday, before closing out the affair with a single contest with GMU on Sunday.
The Blue and Gold stay on the road for its first 19 games spread out over four tournaments before entertaining its first opponent at MSU's University Field. Eastern Illinois comes to town for a three-game Ohio Valley Conference series on March 7-8.
