MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State softball team scored in the first inning and led in both of Saturday's games only to see home standing SIU Edwardsville come from behind late to secure a pair of victories at the Cougar Field in Edwardsville, Ill.
MSU led or was tied entering the sixth inning of all three games of the weekend series only to see SIUE (13-13/6-0) rally to gain the win.
"We did a nice job bouncing back from yesterday's heartbreak, but we just can't seem to catch a break," Morehead State coach
Megan Griffith said. "These late-game comebacks have been devastating. In game one, we were one out away from the win. In game two, it was tied with one out in the sixth. We've done a good job getting going early; now we just have to find a way to finish games off."
It has been a hard-luck campaign for the Blue and Gold. This season, the Eagles have led at the end of an inning 11 times and were unable to get the win, with seven of those defeats coming in the opposition's final at-bat. In addition, Morehead State (1-19/0-6) has also scored in the first inning in nine of its 20 contests.
The results sent MSU to its 10th consecutive defeat this spring.
In the opener, things started promisingly for the Blue and Gold as it took advantage of two SIUE errors, scoring when junior third baseman
Sela Pickford's ground out plated junior center fielder
Maddy Christopher.
Neither team could get more than two runners on base through the first three innings, with the clubs recording just one hit apiece.
The hosts used a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases in the bottom of the fourth but could not get a run across the plate.
The trend of failing to get multiple baserunners continued until the bottom of the sixth, when the Cougars did most of their damage with two outs. After a one-out walk and a sacrifice bunt, the hosts strung together a single and two doubles to tally three runs, with the go-ahead run coming off the bat of Arissah Garza.
Morehead State mustered one final challenge in the top of the seventh after sophomore left fielder
Sophie Collins reached on a two-out error and freshman shortstop
Kylie Mann collected an infield single, but a ground out ended any last-minute heroics.
The Eagles had two hits and committed one error, while leaving five runners on base. SIUE had six hits, five errors and stranded seven runners.
Junior second baseman
Sage VanDemark and Mann both went 1-for-3 to lead the Eagles at the plate. Christopher scored the team's lone run.
The Cougars' six hits came from different players. Jesslyn Stairs and Garza each had one hit, one run and one RBI.
In the circle, junior
Ainsley Stubbs (1-6) pitched five and two-thirds innings, allowing five hits, three earned runs and three walks, while striking out four. Freshman
Allicen Harris pitched to two batters for one-third of an inning and gave up a hit.
McKayla Anderson (2-0) went the distance and surrendered two hits and no earned runs, while walking one and striking out two.
VanDemark made her presence known right away in the second game. After Christopher led off with a single, VanDemark clubbed her third home run of the season with a shot over the fence in center field. Junior catcher
Sydney Farmer added a double and eventually moved to third, but a ground out ended the inning.
SIUE countered with a run of its own in the bottom of the frame after Kaylin Fahy homered and then added another run in the second after benefitting from a hit batsman, walk and a two-out RBI infield single.
Another quick start followed in the top of the third. Christopher led off with a single and moved up a base on an error, before VanDemark doubled to left-center field to score her. After a pitching change, VanDemark advanced to third on a wild pitch and sophomore designated player
Nyla Doiron walked. However, the next batter's infield pop out ended the inning.
Collins led off the fourth with a double, but it was the team's only offense that inning.
In the fifth, the Cougars benefited by an Eagle error, on which the hosts were able to capitalize with a two-out, run-scoring single by Fahy.
Four of the first five SIUE batters in the sixth singled, with the final one by Harley Limberger driving in the two go-ahead runs.
MSU went down in order in the seventh to end the game.
Both teams finished with seven hits, one error and five runners left one base.
Christopher and VanDemark each had two hits for the Eagles. Christopher scored twice, while VanDemark had three RBI and one run. Pickford, who saw her 11-game hitting streak come to an end in the first game, got back on track with a single. Farmer and Collins also added hits.
Fahy had two hits to lead the hosts. She and Limberger each had two RBI. Stairs scored a team-best two runs.
Harris fell to 0-8, earning the decision after four and one-third innings of work. She allowed six hits and three runs (two earned), while striking out six and walking none. Senior
Rylie Burney got the start and pitched one inning, surrendering two runs on one hit with three walks and no strikeouts. Stubbs pitched two-thirds of an inning to close out the game. She faced two batters and gave up nothing other than a wild pitch.
Mia Volpert started and lasted two innings, yielding five hits with three runs (two earned). She also had a strikeout but no walks. Kiana Villa (4-1) picked up the win after pitching five shutout innings. She allowed two hits, with one walk and one strikeout.
Morehead State will return to Illinois next weekend to face Western Illinois. There will be a doubleheader on Saturday, with games beginning at 1 p.m. ET and 3:30 p.m. ET, and a single contest on Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. ET. The Eagles' next home outing will be March 28-29 against Tennessee Tech.
