Game 1 Box Score | Game 1 Box Score (PDF)
Game 2 Box Score |Game 2 Box Score (PDF)
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.— Morehead State sophomore Kayla Brill went 5-for-8 and hit a game-tying two run homer in the second game as the Eagle softball team started Ohio Valley Conference 2-0 with a 9-2 and a 7-5 win at Southeast Missouri Saturday.
The Eagles, who rallied for six runs in the final two innings to win game two, improved to 9-11 with thir sixth win in eight games. SEMO fell to 9-14 and 0-2 in the league.
Senior pitcher Alex Gjevre struck out six and only scattered two hits over five innings in the opener. After a leadoff single, she retired 10 consecutive SEMO batters. She also pitched the final four innings in game two to pick up wins in both ends of the doubleheader and improve to 4-7.
In the opening game, freshman first baseman Amber Riddle got the Eagles on the scoreboard on the top of the first. After Brill singled up the middle, Riddle lifted a stand-up double down the left field to score Brill from first.
The Eagles increased their lead to 3-0 in the third inning. An RBI single from Rebecca Butler scored Anna Sommer, who had led off the inning with an infield single on a bunt. Bianca Cardenas collected an RBI as SEMO shortstop Renee Kertz elected to throw home on her grounder. Brill beat the throw home though.
MSU made it a 6-0 ball game in the fourth. Kayla Ashbrook reached on a fielding at short to start things off. After a Courtney Seiler single and another bunt from Sommer, Elizabeth Wagner smashed a two-run double to left center to score Ashbrook and Seiler. Butler lined a single to right field to send Sommer home with the sixth MSU run of the opening game.
Sommer also scored MSU’s seventh run in the top of the fifth as she blasted a two-out solo homer to left field. The Eagles then added another pair of scores in the top of the seventh. Ashbrook and Sommer drew walks and Brittany Scheer laced a single to center to score Ashbrook. On the play, SEMO center fielder Melissa Walker allowed the ball to go all the way to the wall to allow Sommer to score as well. With the Eagles on top 9-0 already and the Redhawks with just one more at-bat, Scheer attempted to stretch the hit into a scoring situation herself, but she was thrown out on the relay from the outfield.
Sophomore Ashley Boyd pitched the final two frames, allowing both runs – but both were unearned as well.
Stefanie Barnes pitched the complete game for the Redhawks and fell to 5-7. For the Eagles, Butler and Sommer had two hits each.
SEMO got on the board first in the second game, scoring once in the first inning and twice in the second against MSU starter Sarah Funston. RBI doubles from Haleigh Willis and a run-scoring single off the bat of Nicole Troncoso gave the Redhawks the early advantage.
The Eagles were able to trim the lead to 3-1 in the fourth. Cardenas walked and Ashbrook and pinch hitter Bethany Ellis reached via singles. Scheer coaxed a bases loaded RBI walk after a 10-pitch at-bat to score pinch runner Taylor Sherritt.
The Redhawks upped the lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth as Carmen Fowler lifted a one-out two-run homer over the left field fence.
The Eagles answered in the clutch though in the top of the sixth. Pinch hitter Ashley Archer singled and Sommer walked. Wagner then slapped an opposite field double to the wall in left field to plate both runners. Brill came up next and ripped a two-out, two-run homer down the right field line to tie the game at 5-5.
MSU grabbed the lead in the top of the seventh. C ardenas singled with one out and then scored as Ashbrook delivered a double to center field. The ball was misplayed in the field, allowing the MSU catcher to get to the plate with the go-ahead run. Archer came up with another single, this time to left field, to score Ashbrook with the Eagles’ seventh run.
The series finale is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday.
