MOREHEAD, Ky. – The Morehead State softball team will conclude the non-conference portion of its schedule on Wednesday when the Eagles travel to Highland Heights, Ky., to face Northern Kentucky at the Frank Ignatius Grein Softball Field. The teams will tangle at 4 p.m.
It is a make-up game for an originally scheduled doubleheader that was to take place on March 11. It will be just the fourth midweek non-conference outing this season. The Eagles fell at Kentucky 7-0 on April 8, and at Eastern Kentucky 6-0 and 4-3 on April 15. Last year, the Blue and Gold finished 1-3 in non-conference midweek contests.
Morehead State (7-31) is coming off a 1-0 shutout win over UT Martin on Monday. It was the team's first road shutout in exactly two years when it defeated UTM by an identical score on April 20, 2024.
"We're looking to carry momentum from Monday's win into the midweek contest. We'll need to control the small ball and run game at NKU while keeping their hitters off balance," said MSU head coach
Megan Griffith. "We will rely on our full staff and defense for that. For our offense, we're going to continue building our execution and sticking to our approach at the plate."
After starting the year 2-24, MSU has won five of the last 16. The team is 4-13 in true road games and 5-24 in all away contests this season. A Wednesday win would give the Blue and Gold its second multi-contest road winning streak of the year.
Against UTM, the Eagles won for just the second time this season when they out-hit their opponent. On the season, the club has notched seven or more hits in 25 games.
Individually, a trio of juniors continue to stand out. Pitcher
Ainsley Stubbs has been key to the recent surge as she has won five of her last 10 appearances and has more victories than any Eagle since Lennon Spicer reached nine in 2021.
Outfielder
Maddy Christopher is riding a nine-game hitting streak and has reached base by any possible means in all but one contest this season. She also has a hit in 33 games. Over the last week, she has batted .500. Pickford, who had the key single and scored the lone run on Monday, has at least one hit in 31 games this spring. She has had four double-digit hitting streaks in her career.
Both Christopher and Pickford are challenging several MSU top-10 lists. Christopher is on pace to have the best single-season batting average in 29 years and her current mark of .391 is fifth all-time. She also equals the best career average of .365 and sits three points shy of the fourth-best career on-base percentage. Pickford is chasing a spot on the career doubles (29), extra-base hits (41) and slugging percentage (.442) rankings.
In addition, the Eagles are challenging some of the best team marks in years. Their .269 batting average is the second-best mark in a non-Covid year since 2013, while its run total of 153 is already ahead of what it reached in every season since 2018 (not including last year). Despite some recent struggles with striking out, the club also is on pace to tally its fewest strikeouts in a season since 1994. In the circle, MSU has hit just four batters this spring, which ties for the lowest total in Division I and equals the school record, a mark also achieved in 1989 and 1994.
As a team this season, the Blue and Gold are batting .269, while averaging 4.03 runs per game. It also has 17 home runs, 13 stolen bases, a 6.31 ERA and a .944 fielding percentage. Its opponents boast a .347 batting average, with 6.97 rpg, 19 home runs, 70 stolen bases, a 3.19 ERA and a .954 fielding percentage.
Individually, Christopher is hitting .396, with 27 runs, 10 RBI, a .410 slugging percentage and a .417 on-base percentage. Junior infielder
Noemye Letendre follows with a .333 batting average, 11 runs, three doubles, five homers, 24 RBI, a .527 slugging percentage and a .380 on-base percentage. Junior catcher/third baseman
Sydney Farmer is batting .302, with 24 runs, 12 doubles, three homers, 18 RBI, three stolen bases, a .519 slugging percentage and a .361 on-base percentage. Pickford adds a .291 batting average, 22 runs, seven doubles, 20 RBI, three stolen bases, a .403 slugging percentage and a .326 on-base percentage.
Among the pitchers, Stubbs is 7-10, with a 4.96 ERA, 85 strikeouts and 58 walks in 113 innings. Freshman
Allicen Harris is 0-14, with a 5.01 ERA, with 31 strikeouts and 16 walks in 74 innings, and senior
Rylie Burney is 0-7, with a 9.88 ERA, 26 strikeouts and 46 walks.
Northern Kentucky (16-23) is 6-9 at home this spring, but has dropped its last three games there, including a Tuesday contest with Evansville (8-3), an April 15 outing against Kentucky (6-0) and a April 14 game against Miami-Ohio (11-3). The Norse will be playing its seventh outing of a 10-game home stand. During that stretch, the team is 2-4, with its last win coming in the second game of an April 11 doubleheader with Robert Morris (9-4). In the first game, it fell 18-3.
Morehead State and Northern Kentucky have six common opponents this year. NKU split with Western Illinois (losing 5-2 and winning 1-0); beat Southern Indiana (8-2); fell to Eastern Kentucky (9-6), Dayton (9-4) and Kentucky (6-0). MSU went 3-7 versus the group.
As a team, the Norse are batting .289, while averaging 4.69 rpg, with 13 home runs, 68 stolen bases, a 6.45 ERA and a .951 fielding percentage. Their opponents are hitting .312, with 6.95 rpg, 41 home runs, 40 stolen bases, a 4.09 ERA and a .948 fielding percentage.
Freshman outfielder and Maysville, Ky., native, Kenzi Gulley is batting .359, with 26 runs, four doubles, 12 walks, 14 stolen bases, a .406 slugging percentage and a .418 on-base percentage. Senior outfielder Jena Rhoads owns a .339 batting average, with 25 runs, 11 doubles, 15 RBI, 10 walks, 11 stolen bases, a .446 slugging percentage and a .396 on-base percentage. Senior utility player Brielle DiMemmo has a .319 batting average, with 30 runs, six doubles, five triples, six home runs, 29 RBI, three stolen bases, a .605 slugging percentage and a .352 on-base percentage. Senior infielder Peyton Mueller-Stenz is also hitting .319, with 18 runs, 11 doubles, 15 RBI, 10 walks, eight stolen bases, a .457 slugging percentage and a .404 on-base percentage. Junior infielder Mack Brow boasts a .306 batting average, with 21 runs, 13 RBI, 10 walks, 11 stolen bases, a .352 slugging percentage and a .364 on-base percentage.
Freshman left-handed pitcher/outfielder Makaree Chapman owns a 5-11 record, with a 5.58 ERA, three saves, 57 strikeouts and 64 walks in 100 and one-third innings. Graduate student right-hander Alicia Flores is 7-6, with a 5.83 ERA, 41 strikeouts and 21 walks in 60 innings. Freshman left-hander Abigail Byrd is 4-5, with a 6.50 ERA, 31 strikeouts and 50 walks in 56 innings.
Head coach Morgan Gerak is in her second season and has a 38-50 record.
Last year, the two teams met four times spread out over three early-season tournaments and a road game at NKU. At last year's season-opening Pinnacle Blue Hose Invitational, the Norse won 11-0 in five innings. The next weekend at the Kennesaw State Tournament, Northern Kentucky captured an 18-15 victory, which was the highest-scoring game in MSU history prior to Le Moyne's Feb. 7 19-16 victory. After a week away from each other, NKU topped the Eagles 10-5 at the Governors Classic. Finally, on Mar. 12, the Norse toppled MSU 4-0 at home.
The two squads first met in Morehead State's inaugural season of 1989. The Blue and Gold dominated the early matchups, either winning or tying the first 12 series. Overall, MSU owns a 28-17-1 series advantage, but trails in Highland Heights 7-6.
The four meetings in 2025 marked the second time NKU swept the matchups. In 2004, it won both at home (3-0 and 10-5). Since 2013, the in-state foes have faced off 16 times, with MSU holding a 10-6 edge. They played every year between 2013-18 and then had seven years off before squaring off last spring. Northern Kentucky has won the last four meetings overall and the last one in Highland Heights.
Morehead State's last win in the series was 9-4 on February 16, 2018, in Buies Creek, N.C. MSU's last victory at NKU was on April 5, 2016, when the Eagles swept a doubleheader (5-0 and 6-2).
The games will not be broadcast on television. However, live stats will be available at the link
https://nkunorse.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary.
The Eagles will return to Morehead this weekend to host Southeast Missouri in its final home stand. A doubleheader is scheduled for Saturday at noon and 2:30 p.m., before concluding the series on Sunday at noon. Sunday also will be Senior Day, when the club will recognize six players. MSU will close out the regular season the following weekend with a three-game set at Lindenwood.
