MOREHEAD, Ky. – It has become an all-or-nothing scenario for the Morehead State softball team to continue its season past this weekend as the club heads to St. Charles, Mo., for a three-game series with Lindenwood at the Lou Brock Sports Complex. The Eagles and Lions will tangle twice on Friday, beginning at 2 p.m. ET and 4:40 p.m. ET, and then once on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.
Morehead State (7-35/6-18) trails Western Illinois (13-29/8-15) for the eighth and final berth to the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament that will start on May 6 in Peoria, Ill. The Leathernecks travel to meet SIU Edwardsville on Friday and Saturday. MSU needs to sweep the weekend and hope that WIU goes winless. If that happens, the Eagles will earn the No. 8 seed and return to the conference tournament for the first time since 2023. None of the eight seeds for the tournament are settled entering the weekend. Lindenwood also will be keeping an eye on action in Edwardsville, Ill., as SIUE is two games ahead of the Lions in the standings.
The Eagles have been off since Monday's series final against Southeast Missouri at home and head coach
Megan Griffith knows what her club needs to do to achieve its goals this weekend.
"We're looking to improve from last weekend. We will need to control Lindenwood's run game and be efficient in the circle," she said. "We have been preparing for their pitchers offensively and we'll need good execution at the plate."
MSU has dropped its last four games – three last weekend against Southeast Missouri (12-3 in six innings, 8-3 and 9-2), as well as its last road outing – Wednesday, Apr. 22 at Northern Kentucky (1-0). However, prior to that it defeated UT Martin in Tennessee 1-0. The Eagles are 4-14 in true road contests this spring and 5-25 overall in games away from Morehead.
The Blue and Gold are challenging many top all-time marks, including home runs, strikeouts and stolen bases. In 2025, the squad boasted some of its best offensive totals in years. This year's club is ahead of last spring's defensive and pitching numbers but slightly behind its play with the bats.
Still, Morehead State has been very productive offensively. It has recorded at least seven hits in 28 games and had three or fewer strikeouts in 20 contests. It has had its most home runs (20) since it tallied 30 in 2018. It also is on pace to have more home runs (20) than stolen bases (13) for just the third time in its history. In addition, its 13 stolen bases are an all-time program low. Its 174 strikeouts are the fewest in a complete season since 1999.
Individually, junior outfielder
Maddy Christopher reached base by any means (H, BB, IBB, HBP, FC, E, CI) in all but one game this year. Junior infielder
Sela Pickford has done so 37 times. The pair has also been consistently racking up hits. Christopher has at least one hit in 36 of the 42 games, while Pickford has done so in 35 outings. She also enters the weekend with a seven-game hitting streak. Christopher has 20 multi-hit contests this spring.
As a team, the Eagles are batting .270, with 3.86 runs per game, 20 home runs, 13 stolen bases, a 6.43 ERA and a .942 fielding percentage. Their opponents are hitting .351, with 7.05 rpg, 24 home runs, 82 stolen bases, a 3.06 ERA and a .955 fielding percentage.
As she has done all season, Christopher leads the team in batting average and is challenging the first .400 mark since Jennifer Moffitt reached it in 1994. She currently sits at .388. She adds a team-best 27 runs, along with 10 RBI, three doubles, a .406 slugging percentage and a .407 on-base percentage. Junior infielder
Noemye Letendre is hitting .343, with 12 runs, three doubles, six home runs, 26 RBI, a .543 slugging percentage and a .395 on-base percentage. Junior catcher/third baseman
Sydney Farmer is batting .303, with 24 runs, 12 doubles, three home runs, 18 RBI, three stolen bases, a .514 slugging percentage and a .361 on-base percentage. Pickford follows with a .289 batting average, 25 runs, seven doubles, three home runs, 21 RBI, three stolen bases, a .409 slugging percentage and a .325 on-base percentage. Sophomore outfielder
Sophie Collins has been on a tear since conference play began and is now hitting .273 overall and .319 in OVC action.
Among the pitchers, freshman
Allicen Harris tops the team in ERA (4.80), despite owning a 0-15 record. She also has 33 strikeouts and 19 walks in 81 and two-third innings. Junior
Ainsley Stubbs has a 5.45 ERA, with a 7-12 record, 93 strikeouts and 65 walks in 124 and two-third innings. Senior
Rylie Burney has a 10.09 ERA, a 0-8 record, 26 strikeouts and 49 walks in 59 and two-third innings.
Lindenwood (25-22/14-10) won two-of-three last weekend at Western Illinois. The Lions claimed games one (10-0 in six innings) and two (8-1), before falling in the finale (11-3 in six innings). Prior to the WIU series, it fell at Saint Louis 7-6. The last time the team was at home, it went 1-2 versus SIUE. On Sunday, Apr. 12, LU won 3-0. The day before it fell 5-4 in nine innings and 8-4. Overall, it is 11-7 at home this season.
Outside of the eight similar OVC opponents, the two teams have two similar foes this season. Lindenwood defeated Northern Kentucky 7-1 and fell to Indiana State 4-1. MSU dropped its contest with NKU 2-1 and two matches against ISU, 5-0 and 11-3 in five innings.
As a team, the Lions are hitting .307, with 5.31 rpg, 24 home runs, 74 stolen bases, a 4.05 ERA and a .965 fielding percentage. Their opponents are batting .291, with 4.73 rpg, 27 home runs, 44 stolen bases, a 4.77 ERA and a .973 fielding percentage.
Six players are batting over .300. Sophomore infielder Anna Sanders leads the way at .391. She adds 31 runs, 12 doubles, three triples, 30 RBI, 14 walks, 19 stolen bases, a .530 slugging percentage and a .446 on-base percentage. Senior utility player Kylee Crowder is hitting .341, with 29 runs, five doubles, four triples, four home runs, 26 RBI, 16 walks, 11 stolen bases, a .540 slugging percentage and a .429 on-base percentage. Senior infielder Tori Hatton is batting .327, with 24 runs, seven doubles, four home runs, 40 RBI, seven stolen bases, a .462 slugging percentage and a .361 on-base percentage. Senior utility player Jolie McMinn is hitting .314, with 15 runs, nine doubles, 25 RBI, 23 walks, a .423 slugging percentage and a .400 on-base percentage. Junior infielder Madisen Noll adds a .309 batting average, while sophomore outfielder Teryn Brown hits .301. Senior infielder Emily Geary leads the team with seven home runs.
Freshman right-hander Ava Risum is 1-4, with a 2.64 ERA, 34 strikeouts and 22 walks in 58 and one-third innings. Sophomore right-hander Samantha Roulanaitis is 6-1, with a 2.81 ERA, two saves, 35 strikeouts and 17 walks in 57 and one-third innings. Senior right-hander Avery Wapp has a 5-5 record, with a 3.61 ERA, 71 strikeouts and 26 walks in 62 innings. Senior left-hander Ryleigh Owens is 8-6, with a 4.20 ERA, 51 strikeouts and 47 walks in 80 innings.
Coach Erin Brown is in her fifth season with the club and sports a 125-117 record.
The two teams have a limited series history, having only met since 2023 when Lindenwood joined the OVC. LU leads the matchups 7-2, including winning all three games at home. Last year, MSU won the opener in Morehead 15-4 in five innings, before falling 8-4 and 12-7. In 2024, the only time the teams met in St. Charles, the Lions won 6-1, 2-1 and 2-0. The 2023 meetings were split, with the Eagles winning 8-0 in six innings at home in the finale, after dropping the first two games 4-2 in 11 innings and 4-3.
Live stats will be available for all three contests. The link for each game is:
https://lindenwoodlions.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary.
ESPN+ will broadcast all three outings, including game one:
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/9ba42103-dcca-4767-9481-d2e012dd72d5?om-navmethod=espn%3Aglobalsearch%3Aresults, game two:
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/4c465bd0-8b68-434f-b3ef-acceca9bb0e0?om-navmethod=espn%3Aglobalsearch%3Aresults and game three:
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/2f11e238-29ad-4967-88ab-476c12b18e26?om-navmethod=espn%3Aglobalsearch%3Aresults.
The Ohio Valley Conference Tournament will run from May 6-9 in Peoria, Ill.
