5/9/2008 Magical 2008 Softball Season Concludes in OVC Tournament Friday NightJACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Morehead State's quest for the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship ended a few games sooner than everyone involved had hoped for as they fell 5-0 to Tennessee Tech Friday night in a lower bracket elimination game, but the 2008 Eagles still took fourth place in the tournament and finished off an incredible turnaround season in head coach Holly Bruder's first campaign. Box Score Click here to listen to an archived broadcast More...

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5/8/2008
Softball Moves On In OVC Tournament; Defeats EIU 7-4
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Morehead State senior catcher Korey Ellis finished off a four-run rally in the fifth inning with a two-run homer Friday morning, and the MSU softball Eagles came back to defeat and eliminate Eastern Illinois 7-4 in the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. Box Score Click here to listen to an archived broadcast More... |
Morehead State improved to 34-15 overall, while EIU halts its season at 20-26. The Eagles will now face Tennessee Tech in a game tonight at 6:30 p.m. EDT. MSU defeated Tech two out of three games in the regular season. The winner moves on to the loser's bracket finals on Saturday at 11 a.m. EDT. Senior outfielder Kari Quinn got MSU on the board with a two-run single in the first inning with two outs. Bri Jones led off the game with a single and Courtney Seiler walked. After two ground outs, Quinn ripped a 2-1 Karyn Mackie pitch to right center to plate Bianca Cardenas and Brandy Bucher. The Eagles chased Mackie after only two-thirds of an inning and brought in Kathleen Jacoby. In an earlier meeting with EIU, MSU had chased Jacoby out of a game in the first inning.
The Panthers, however, rallied with a four-spot in the fourth inning. Ally Nolte belted a three-run homer to left field off Alex Gjevre, and Taylor Lawson followed with her first career homer, a solo shot, over the fence down the right field line. The Panthers knocked out Gjevre after three-and two-thirds innings. MSU brought in sophomore Sarah Funston, and she finished off the game and was the beneficiary of the Eagle rally to improve to 6-3. Funston also fanned three EIU hitters.
Down 4-2, the Eagles jumped back on top in the fifth. Cardenas started the rally sliced a double to right center field on a hit-and-run to score Seiler and Bucher. Seiler led off the inning with a single and Bucher followed with a single up the middle. With Cardenas on second, Ellis drilled her second home run of the season - a line drive shot to left center- to put the Eagles ahead 6-4.
"I was just looking for something in my zone. Usually it's outside, but they're gonna threw me all inside this whole tournament so that's what I'm looking for and it just happened to be the right pitch at the right time," said Ellis.
Bucher knocked an RBI single to plate MSU's seventh run in the sixth. Jones led off with a single and later scored on Bucher's "Texas-league" single up the middle. For the Eagles, Jones and Bucher had two hits apiece, while Seiler scored twice. EIU's Megan Nelson led all players with three hits.
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5/8/2008
Rain Delay and Offensive Struggles Hamper Softball Eagles in 3-0 OVC Tournament Loss
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Morehead State's opening game in the 2008 Ohio Valley Conference softball tournament was hampered by a three-hour, 45-minute rain delay, and the Eagle bats only produced two hits as they fell to sixth-seeded Samford, 3-0, in the opening round at University Field here Thursday. MSU fell into the lower bracket and will face Eastern Illinois at 11 a.m. EDT Friday in an elimination game. Box Score More... |
Samford, who had earlier rallied to beat third-seed Eastern Kentucky, jumped on MSU starter Alex Gjevre in the first and second innings to take a 3-0 lead. Gjevre got the first two outs before allowing a single to Aaren Fischer. With one strike on pitcher Amanda Barrs, Gjevre nearly got out of the first unharmed. But, Barrs took a 2-1 pitch high over the right field fence for a 2-0 Bulldog lead.
Samford capitalized on a wild pitch to plate its third run in the second inning.
In the top of the fourth, Gjevre walked leadoff hitter Emily Deaux. With heavy rain beginning to fall, the umpires called for the field crew and the tarp. That was at 4:08 central time. To everyone's dismay, the rain came down for the next three hours, and play didn't resume until 7:53 p.m.
Photo by Mackenzie Bates
Gjevre only allowed two hits in the final four innings but her counterpart, Barrs, tossed a gem and helped herself with the first-inning home run. She only gave up two singles to Brandy Bucher and Allie Honkofsky. After the delay, the Eagles got the single from Bucher in the fourth. A wild pitch allowed Bucher to move to third base. But, Barrs got Rebecca Butler to ground out to first base and then struck out the next two Eagles to end the threat. Honkofsky's single came in the fifth frame.
"I think we hit her (Barrs) decent enough to win the first couple in the first series we played them and this time around, her drop ball was good and we got caught on her change up a little bit," saud MSU head coach Holly Bruder. "She threw a great game. I can't take anything away from her. I expected more out of my girls. She pitched a two hitter against us and you're not going to win with two hits."
Barrs improved to 8-7, while Gjevre fell to 17-6.
The Eagles will now have to win five more games in the tournament if they want to be crowned champion. Samford, meanwhile, had to win three last weekend just to make the tournament and now finds itself in the semifinals against the winner of the Jacksonville State/Tennessee Tech game which began around 9:30 local time here Thursday night. MSU must win its game against EIU Friday morning or be ousted from the tournament.
5/8/2008
- Alex Gjevre Named 2008 OVC Softball Pitcher of the Year and all-OVC; Butler and Quinn also Earn all-OVC Honor
Gjevre is the first major award winner from MSU in the history of the program and since the conference began holding a championship in 1994. Meanwhile, the trio of all-conference awards represents MSU's initial first-or-second team honors since Toni Orr was second-team in 2003. Gjevre, who is 17-5 entering the OVC tournament, led the conference and currently ranks sixth in the nation in Division I for ERA at 0.77. That mark, if it holds up this week, would set an OVC single season record. The only other five pitchers ahead of her right now are all on teams in the top 30 in the Warren Nolan national softball RPI ratings. She has already set the Morehead State single season record for victories (17) and strikeouts (121) and is within striking distance of single season MSU marks for winning percentage, solo shutouts and saves.
Gjevre Receiving Her Award
She has only allowed two total runs and just one earned run in her last 30.0 innings in the circle and posted an even-lower 0.64 ERA against Ohio Valley Conference teams in 2008 while going 11-3. Gjevre has now collected 31 wins in less than two full seasons to rank third all-time at MSU. She also ranks third in career strikeouts now with 215. She was named OVC Pitcher of the Week three times
Quinn is completing her career on a high note this season and earned a spot on the all-OVC second-team as a utility player. She is 11-6 pitching this year with a 1.68 ERA and has thrown two solo no-hitter and been a part of a third no-hit shutout. She totaled 76 strikeouts in the regular season and holds the MSU career record with 352. She plays in the outfield when she's not in the circle, and she's been equally solid at the plate, hitting .308 overall and against OVC teams. She led the team with seven home runs, including five during the Feb. 22-24 weekend at the Blues City Classic. She entered that weekend without a career home run. She produced 24 RBI and had 13 multi-hit games.
Butler was named to the second-team as an infielder and also landed a spot on the 12-member All-Newcomer Team. She had a solid freshman campaign, including leading the team with a .338 batting average and 14 doubles to rank in the top 75 nationally. She had 14 multi-hit games and nine multi-RBI games. Butler has driven in 32 runs so far in 2008 and hit six home runs.
5/7/2008
- MSU's OVC Tournament Softball Games Available on MSPR; On-Demand Video Available on OVCSports.TV
Randy Stacy and Mackenzie Bates will be calling all the action of MSU's first OVC Tournament appearance since 2000 on MSPR.
The entire 2008 Ohio Valley Conference Softball Tournament will be available on-demand on OVCSports.TV. Catch all the action for just $9.95.
Morehead State earned the second seed in the tournament and received a bye into the second round. The Eagles' first game is scheduled for 4 p.m. EDT on Thursday (May 8) against the winner of the Samford/Eastern Kentucky game to be played earlier that day in the first round.
5/5/2008
- Softball Eagles Complete Sweep of TSU, Set School Record for Wins, Earn Number Two Seed and First Round Bye in OVC Tournament
MSU got on the board first when Ashley Archer singled in Korey Ellis in the second inning. The Eagles added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning as Allie Honkofsky scored on a sacrifice squeeze bunt by Courtney Seiler.
Alex Gjevre pitched the first four innings for MSU and earned the win to go to 17-5 on the season. Sarah Funston pitched the final two innings and earned her second save.
The Eagles are now 33-14 overall, 16-9 in the OVC. The 33 wins break the school record that had been held by the 1991 MSU softball team.
MSU will open play in the six-team, double elimination, OVC Softball Tournament at 3 p.m. CDT (4 p.m. EDT) on Thursday (May 8). The Eagles will play the winner of the Eastern Kentucky (three seed) and Samford (six seed) game that will open the tournament at 10 a.m. CDT Thursday.
All of MSU's games in the OVC Softball Tournament can be heard on Morehead State Public Radio, WMKY (90.3 FM) in Morehead, WOCS (88.3 FM) in Booneville and translator W202BH (88.3 FM) in Inez, and also on the web at www.msuradio.com and at www.msueagles.com.
5/4/2008
- Softball Eagles Tame Tigers Twice Saturday
The Eagles needed to win all three games this weekend and hope that either Eastern Ilinois or Eastern Kentucky did not sweep that series in Illinois. Those two teams split their doubleheader Saturday, opening the door the MSU to take the second seed and the bye with a series sweep at TSU. It didn't come easy today, though, as the Eagles had to hold on to a 2-1 lead to win the first game. In the second game, both teams combined for nine errors, and the Eagles took advantage, scoring four unearned runs off TSU starting pitcher Lauren Weber. In all, TSU committed seven errors on the day, and MSU made six field mistakes.
With the wins, MSU tied the 1991 team for the most wins in a season at 32. A win on Sunday would also secure the 2008 Eagles' place in the record books, tying the school record for league wins in a year.
Gjevre entered the weekend needing only four strikeouts to eclipse teammate Kari Quinn's season "K" mark of 115 set last year. She finished the game with five punchouts, setting the record in the sixth inning and now has 117 for the year.
In the opener, the Eagles staked themselves to a 2-0 lead after four innings. In the first, senior Brandy Bucher ripped an RBI double to score Courtney Seiler with the game's initial run. In the third frame, Seiler scored again when freshman Rebecca Butler reached on a fielding error.
The Tigers made it a one-run ballgame with a tally in the fourth. Katie Anderson collected an RBI on a single. The game could have been tied at two, but MSU rightfielder Ashley Archer threw out a TSU runner trying to score.
The Tigers threatened in the seventh but Gjevre got out of a runners-on-first-and-third jam by coaxing a ground out to cap the win. She improved to 16-5 on the season, including 10-3 in the OVC. She also lowered her season ERA to 0.79 and to just 0.66 in OVC contests.
Bucher went 3-for-3 in the opener, while Bri Jones was 2-for-4.
The nightcap was error-marred, but the Eagles broke open a 2-2 game with five runs in the fourth and fifth frames.
Kari Quinn improved to 11-6 with a complete-game four-hitter. She also collected seven strikeouts and went 2-for-3 with an RBI double at the plate. Rebecca Butler was 3-for-4 and smashed an RBI triple.
The Eagles scored on a wild pitch to go on top 1-0 after the top of the first, but TSU got a sacrifice fly to tie the game at one in the bottom of the inning. The Eagles vaulted back on top 2-1 in the top of the second. The Tigers, however, scratched back and tied the game at two in the third.
The two teams will conclude the regular season on Sunday (May 4) at 2 p.m. EDT.
5/1/2008
- Softball Heads to TSU This Weekend With OVC Tournament First-Round Bye at Stake
Along with the incentive of a first-round bye, the Eagles (30-14/13-9 OVC) can also accomplish the school record for wins in a season if they can take all three from the Tigers (16-35/8-16 OVC). The record right now is 32 wins set in 1991.
To secure that second place finish, the Eagles will need to take care of business and complete a three-game sweep. Sitting in fourth place in the OVC standings entering the weekend, MSU is behind second place EKU and third place EIU. Those two teams finish their regular season against each other at EIU this weekend. Should MSU sweep, the only way they would not be second place is if either EIU or EKU wins all three in that series. If the Eagles take all three, it would force either EIU and EKU to also win all three in that series. If the Eagles can only win two of three or even just one of three, then one of the Eastern's will take second place. The final OVC standings and tournament seedings are determined by winning percentage and not by purely total wins and losses.
Tennessee State, meanwhile, will only be playing for pride it seems. Even if TSU sweeps MSU, the Tigers have already been mathematically ousted from tournament consideration. That doesn't mean TSU won't pose a challenge however. The Tigers boast the league's top strikeout pitcher in Amanda Vaught. She leads the OVC in total strikeouts with 170. At the plate, the Tigers have struggled though, hitting a league-low .209 as a team. Tamara Perkins has been a bright spot with a .288 average along with 10 doubles and five balls over the fences. In all but two league series this year (JSU and UTM), TSU has won at least one game. The Tigers are also 10-9 at home in 2008.
MSU has been led this year by a balanced attack of hitting and pitching. The Eagles lead all league teams and rank 11th in the nation with a 1.23 team ERA. Hitting .293 as a team, MSU ranks among the league's top three batting clubs. Sophomore pitcher Alex Gjevre, who broke the school record for wins in a season Sunday against EIU, will look for another record this weekend. She goes for the mark for strikeouts in a season held by teammate Kari Quinn. Quinn, who is also the career leader in punchouts at MSU, totaled 115 last year. Gjevre has 112 entering the weekend and is 15-5 in the win/loss column. Her 0.82 total ERA ranks nationally and leads the league, and Gjevre has been nominated for OVC Pitcher of the Year.
At the plate, six hitters bat at a .300 clip of better. Freshman third baseman Rebecca Butler, an OVC Freshman of the Year nominee, leads everybody with a .341 average and 14 doubles along with six home runs.
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