MOREHEAD, Ky. – As the Morehead State softball team enters the final stretch of the regular season, the club will recognize six players who will be playing their final home games this weekend when Southeast Missouri comes to town.
A revamped schedule has a doubleheader scheduled for Sunday at 1 and 3:30 p.m., with a single contest at noon on Monday. The games will be played at the University Field at Prefontaine Park in Morehead. It will be the final home games of the season for the Blue and Gold.
"We're looking forward to being back at home and celebrating our seniors this weekend," MSU head coach
Megan Griffith said. "We have prepared this week to keep SEMO's hitters off balance and worked to strengthen our offensive approach at the plate. We'll need strong defense behind our pitchers and strong execution at the plate."
Although the Eagles remain in the hunt to earn a berth to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament in two weeks, one of Sunday's primary focuses will be on recognizing the six "seniors".
That group will include outfielders
Taikibrea Campbell (Red),
Maddy Christopher and
Jordan Donato; plus right-handed pitchers
Rylie Burney and
Emma Solis; and catcher/utility player
Alivia Parks. Christopher is a junior but will graduate in May.
"These are six individuals who have been wonderful young ladies to coach, and they will definitely be missed," Griffith said.
"'Red' has been here four years and has made tremendous improvements over her time with us. Maddy is an all-conference player, who is one of the OVC's top outfielders. Her ability to get on base and score have been integral in our offense's success. Jordan moved to the outfield this year after playing first and second base last spring, and has made the adjustment flawlessly. Her defense out there has saved us countless runs," she added. "Rylie was the anchor of our staff last year and is a critical piece in our
pitching strategy game-in and game-out. Emma has not played as much this year, but her work out of the bullpen has been a key component of what we're trying to do by being able to step in ready to contribute when called upon. Alivia has been our primary bullpen catcher this year and approaches the role with the same diligence that she does when she is on the field."
Morehead State (7-31/6-15) remains a game and a half behind Western Illinois (7-15) for the last spot to the OVC Tournament. The Leathernecks have just four remaining games in the conference season and are hosting Lindenwood this weekend. The Lions won the first two matchups and will face WIU in the series finale on Sunday. Western Illinois won the series with MSU, so the Eagles need to finish a game ahead to earn a postseason berth.
The Blue and Gold could finish higher in the league standings but is four games behind both Southern Indiana and Southeast Missouri for sixth place with the Eagles and Redhawks each having six OVC contests remaining.
Like last year, MSU has been impressive offensively this spring. The team is on pace to match or surpass the 2025 club in many statistics, which would rank among the top single-season performances in the last 13 seasons. Among that group is batting average, hits, runs, doubles, home runs, slugging percentage, on-base percentage and fewest strikeouts.
Additionally, MSU has at least seven hits in 25 games this season, is on pace to have its fewest strikeouts in a campaign since 1994 and has tied the school record for the fewest number of hit batsmen (four), while also continuing to lead Division I in the category. The Eagles are also on pace to have more home runs than stolen bases for only the third time in school history (2004 and 2014 are the others).
Christopher and junior infielder
Sela Pickford have provided consistent production at the plate. Christopher leads the club with a 10-game hitting streak and has reached base in all but one outing this spring. Pickford has at least one hit in 32 games this season. Christopher also boasts a .399 batting average, which is the highest for an Eagle since Jennifer Moffitt hit .401 in 1997.
Entering the weekend, MSU is batting .267 as a team, while averaging 3.95 runs per game, with 17 home runs and 13 stolen bases, a 6.22 ERA and a .944 fielding percentage. Its opponents boast a .345 batting average, with 6.85 rpg, 19 home runs, 76 stolen bases, a 3.11 ERA and a .954 fielding percentage.
Christopher is hitting .399, with 27 runs, three doubles, 10 RBI, and both a .419 slugging and on-base percentage. Junior infielder
Noemye Letendre is batting .323, with 11 runs, three doubles, five home runs, 24 RBI, a .510 slugging percentage and a .369 on-base percentage. Junior catcher/third baseman
Sydney Farmer contributes a .302 batting average, with 24 runs, 12 doubles, three home runs, 18 RBI, three stolen bases, a .519 slugging percentage and a .361 on-base percentage. She also has struck out just four times in 106 at-bats. Pickford adds a .290 batting average, with 22 runs, seven doubles, 20 RBI, three stolen bases, a .399 slugging percentage and a .324 on-base percentage.
In the circle, freshman right-hander
Allicen Harris has a 4.88 ERA, with a 0-14 record, 32 strikeouts and 16 walks in 76 innings. Junior right-hander
Ainsley Stubbs has a 4.99 ERA, with a 7-11 record, 86 strikeouts and 60 walks in 115 innings. Burney has a 9.71 ERA, a 0-7 record, with 26 strikeouts and 46 walks in 57 and two-thirds innings.
The Eagles are 2-7 at home this season, having won their last game at the University Field on April 12 with a 6-3 victory over Tennessee State.
Southeast Missouri (14-28/10-10) has been off the past week and enters on a six-game slide. The Redhawks were swept by Lindenwood at home in their last three outings, falling 7-3, 5-0 and 6-3. Prior to that, they dropped a 9-8 decision at Illinois, a 5-1 outing at Evansville and a 6-4 home contest with Eastern Illinois. SEMO is 4-18 in true road games and 7-24 overall away from home. It enters on a four-game road skid.
The two teams have eight common opponents, including Southern Mississippi, Jackson State, Western Illinois, UT Martin, Southern Indiana, Tennessee State, SIU Edwardsville and Eastern Illinois. Southeast Missouri is 11-9 against that group, while MSU is 6-14.
As a team, the Redhawks are batting .251, with 3.83 rpg, 19 home runs, 40 stolen bases, a 5.43 ERA and a .967 fielding percentage. Their opponents are hitting .311, with 5.74 rpg, 28 home runs, 64 stolen bases, a 3.45 ERA and a .966 fielding percentage.
Individually, junior infielder Kamden Hutton is batting a team-best .333, with 21 runs, five doubles, 13 RBI, 19 walks, three stolen bases, a .382 slugging percentage and a .439 on-base percentage. Senior outfielder Madison Winkler is hitting .331, with 20 runs, four doubles, two home runs, 21 RBI, 13 walks, nine stolen bases, a .430 slugging percentage and a .394 on-base percentage. Senior infielder Aubrie Shore owns a .327 batting average, with 13 runs, three doubles, two home runs, 21 RBI, 12 walks, just five strikeouts, a .416 slugging percentage and a .419 on-base percentage. Freshman catcher/infielder Lily Delmain adds a .290 batting average, with 18 runs, three home runs, 11 RBI, six stolen bases, a .449 slugging percentage and a .324 on-base percentage.
Among the pitchers, junior left-hander Willow Van Haren owns a 4.81 ERA, with a 3-7 record, one save, 58 strikeouts and 65 walks in 78 and two-thirds innings. Senior right-hander Elliott Stinson has a 5.40 ERA, with a 3-7 record, 29 strikeouts and 39 walks in 45 and one-third innings. Junior right-hander Maddie Carney adds a 5.57 ERA, a 4-12 record, two saves, 46 strikeouts and 39 walks in 93 innings. Freshman right-hander Summer Branch rounds out the staff with a 5.82 ERA, a 3-2 record, 17 strikeouts and 27 walks in 33 and two-thirds innings.
Coach Mark Redburn is in his 12th year leading the club. He owns a 307-258 record at the school.
SEMO has dominated the 98 meetings (77-21) in the series that dates back to 1992. The Redhawks have won the last 17 outings, including sweeping last year's contests in Cape Girardeau, Mo., 11-7, 8-1 and 5-4. Southeast Missouri has swept the series in each of the last five years.
The last time the two foes met in Morehead (April 14-15, 2024), the Redhawks won 10-1, 14-4 in six innings and 13-3. SEMO owns a 29-12 record at the University Field. MSU's last victory came on May 10, 2018, by a 4-1 score in the OVC Tournament. Its last win at home was on April 24, 2016, when the Eagles claimed 6-1 and 1-0 victories.
Southeast Missouri has won five straight in Morehead and has claimed 25 of the 32 series, with MSU taking three and four ending in a tie.
Morehead State's most successful stretch came from 2013-18, when the Eagles led 8-5, winning at least one game each year and claiming 2-0 series victories in 2014 and 2016.
Live stats are available each game at the following links:
https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=653815 (game one),
https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=653813 (game two) and
https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=653814 (game three).
All three contests will be broadcast on ESPN+. The link for game one is
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/2b1241f1-46fc-4014-897a-a1f81ad41347?om-navmethod=espn%3Aglobalsearch%3Aresults. The link for game two is
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/3a983f53-6944-4bd1-bf1a-551dd55ecd5e?om-navmethod=espn%3Aglobalsearch%3Aresults. The link for game three is
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/2b1241f1-46fc-4014-897a-a1f81ad41347?om-navmethod=espn%3Aglobalsearch%3Aresults.
The weekend promotion will be honoring the seniors. The ceremony will begin at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Tickets can be purchased through the link
https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/18447.
The Eagles will conclude the regular season next weekend at Lindenwood. Games are scheduled for Friday at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. ET, and Saturday at 1 p.m. ET.
