6/10/2009 MSU Softball Signee Amber Riddle Named Kentucky's Miss Softball
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Rowan County Senior High School senior softball student-athlete Amber Riddle, who has signed a national letter of intent to join the Morehead State softball program in the Fall, has been named Kentucky's Miss Softball by the Kentucky Softball Coaches Association. Riddle will receive her award at the East-West All-Star series on June 13 at the University of Kentucky softball complex.
5/13/2009
Alex Gjevre Named NFCA First-Team All-Mideast Region
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State junior softball pitcher Alex Gjevre has been named to the Louisville Slugger/National Fastpitch Coaches Association First-Team All-Mideast Region Squad. It's the second straight year she has earned All-Region accolades after being on the Second-Team All-South group in 2008.
The Ohio Valley Conference leader in wins (25), and strikeouts (230), Alex also ranked third among league pitchers in ERA and second in total innings pitched.
During the 2009 season, she became MSU's all-time career leader in strikeouts, finishing with 449 and one season left to play. She also obliterated her own single season school marks for strikeouts, games started (34) and wins and was only one appearance shy of her school record of 38. She also broke her own single game record with 15 strikeouts.
Alex was a key part of MSU's school record-breaking 35-win season. She was also one of seven OVC players who earned all-region honors in three separate regions.
5/10/2009
Softball's Bianca Cardenas Named to CoSIDA Academic All-District Team
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State junior softball student-athlete Bianca Cardenas, a native of Santa Ana, Calif., has been named to the Second-Team Academic All-District IV team by the College Sports Information Director's of America (CoSIDA). Cardenas is a repeat selection on the all-district team as she earned a spot on the district IV third-team as a sophomore in 2007-08. She was one of six Ohio Valley Conference softball athletes named on the all-district lists.More...
Cardenas is a junior education major with a 3.56 cumulative GPA through the Fall of 2008. On the field she has started all but one game behind the plate at catcher for the Eagles. She has also hit three home runs and has five doubles and has thrown out nearly 25 percent of baserunners attempting to steal this year.
The CoSIDA Academic All-District and Academic All-America program honors student-athletes who excel on the field and in the classroom. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a significant contributor on the playing field and possess at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average.
Despite the loss, the 2009 team set the single season school record for victories.
MSU pitcher Alex Gjevre and UT Martin hurler Kara Harper each took a shutout into extra innings as both team could not capitalize with runners in scoring position or on base. The Skyhawks left 10 runners on base while the Eagles had only five hits but left seven runners on base.
In the top of the eighth, UT Martin shortstop Jenny Bain broke the stalemate with a two-run single off Gjevre, and then Megan Van Arsadale put the game effectively out of reach with a three-run homer to left field.
Of the Eagles' five hits, senior Bri Jones finished her four-year career by going 2-for-3. In the bottom of the seventh, she doubled to the wall in right field, but the Skyhawks gunned down freshman Sam Sparks at the plate trying to score the winning run.
Jones finished her career as the Eagles' all-time leader in at-bats, games played and walks. She will be listed on the All-Tournament Team when it is released after the tournament concludes.
Gjevre absorbed the loss to end her junior campaign at 25-11. She finished the year with a league-high 230 strikeouts.
The split left MSU in the 11 a.m. EST elimination game on Friday morning against fourth seed UT Martin. The Skyhawks dropped a 1-0 game to fifth seed Tennessee Tech. Tech went on to knock off top seed and host Jacksonville State Thursday evening, leaving Tech and SEMO in the winner's bracket final and dropping the top seed Gamecocks into Friday's second elimination game.
In the morning victory, MSU trailed 4-0 after the second inning as the Panthers roughed up MSU starter Alex Gjevre for four scores in the second frame on three hits. But, in the third, the Eagles re-took the lead for good.
Bri Jones drew her second walk to reach first with one out. After a throwing error alowed her to reach second and Sam Woodall to safely reach first, sophomore Rebecca Butler picked up an RBI with a single to center field. Bianca Cardenas singled after that, and the bases were loaded with two outs for Ellis. She lined the first pitch she saw from EIU starter Amber May just over the fence and inside the left field four pole for a grand slam to push MSU ahead 5-4. It was Ellis' second circuit clout of the year.
MSU added another run in the fourth as Butler collected her team-leading 35th RBI with a single down the left field line which scored Jones.
After the second inning, Gjevre took control, retiring 13 of the final 14 EIU batters to improve her mark to 24-9 on the season.
The Eagles managed seven hits off May, who dropped her ninth straight decision to falter to 17-18 this year. Butler and Ellis each had two hits.
In the second game of the day, the Eagles faced second-seeded SEMO and neither team managed much offense against two of the league's premier pitchers. SEMO's Giana Zimmerman only allowed two Eagle hits, and both of those came via Jones' bat. Gjevre only gave up four hits, but in the seventh inning, the Redhawks won the game via two singles.
Nicole Troncoso hit a one-out double to the wall in left field and was pinch ran for by Sirena Watkins. After a lineout to left field, Carmen Fowler dropped in a single to left field, and Watkins came around from second to score the winning run.
Gjevre pitched her second complete game of the day and had four strikeouts. Zimmerman only fanned two, but MSU hit into six ground outs and numerous pop ups in the infield.
Fans can hear all of MSU's games in the tournament on the Eagle Sports Network on Morehead State Public Radio, including WMKY 90.3 FM in Morehead and WOCS 88.3 FM in Lerose/Booneville, as well as on translator W202BH in Inez. In addition, fans can also hear the game online at www.msuradio.com or www.msueagles.com.
Fans can hear all of MSU's games in the tournament on the Eagle Sports Network on Morehead State Public Radio, including WMKY 90.3 FM in Morehead and WOCS 88.3 FM in Lerose/Booneville, as well as on translator W202BH in Inez. In addition, fans can also hear the game online at www.msuradio.com or www.msueagles.com.
If the Eagles defeat EIU on Thursday morning, they will then face second seeded Southeast Missouri at approximately 4 p.m. EST on Thursday. The winner of that game moves into the winner's bracket at 3 p.m. EST on Friday, May 8, and the loser plays in an elimination game at 11 a.m. EST Friday. All the games are being played at University Field on Jacksonville State's campus. The Gamecocks earned the top seed for the second straight year.
Morehead State defeated EIU three times during the regular season, sweepig the Panthers on their home field on April 18-19. Gjevre became the first pitcher in school history to be credited with a victory in all three games of a league series.
The Eagles went 1-2 against SEMO, which ended the regular season winning 15 straight games. MSU dropped the two Saturday games in the series before pulling out a 2-1 win in the series finale in March.
This is the second consecutive season MSU has been in the postseason field after missing the event every year from 2001-2007. The Eagles will also be looking to set a single season school record for victories this week, which they are currently tied at with 34.
Gjevre, who was the 2008 OVC Pitcher of the Year and on the first-team, led all league players with 24 pitching victories in 2009, and she led the conference and broke her own school record for strikeouts in a season with 216 entering the OVC Tournament week. Gjevre was named four times as OVC Pitcher of the Week as well. She is 24-9 with a 1.40 ERA. Her stats rank her in the top 30 in the nation in wins, strikeouts and ERA. During the year, she obliterated the MSU career record for strikeouts and now has 435 career Ks. She also has been nominated for NFCA All-Region honors.
Butler, who was named second-team all-OVC in 2008, led the Eagles in hitting at .331 and ranked in the top ten in the league in batting average. She also clubbed seven home runs so far, which ranks tied for the third highest season in school history. Her 33 RBI in 2009 is ranked as the fourth highest season total in program history. Butler also led all league players with a 15-game hitting streak earlier this year.
Brill was among the league' top utility players, seeing time as designated player in the lineup and in the outfield and third base on the field. She is hitting .297 in both overall games and OVC-only games in 2009, and she ranks second on the team with 27 RBI. She has hit four home runs, five doubles and has 43 hits so far on the year.
Woodall hit better than .300 in her first season as a collegiate softball student-athlete, coming in at .302 in the batter's box so far. She also ranks second on the team with five home runs and leads the team with seven stolen bases. In addition, she has nailed 10 doubles and has 18 RBI.
Five players repeated as first-team selections in 2009 after earning the same honor in 2008, and two players moved up to the first-team this year after being on the second-team in 2008. Only four of the 24 players named on either team is a senior.
Jacksonville's State Nikki Prier is the OVC Player of the year, while teammate Karla Pittman is the OVC Pitcher of the Year. UT Martin infielder Jenny Bain was named the league's Freshman of the Year, and JSU's Jana McGinnis and Southeast Missouri skipper Lana Richmond split the votes to earn co-Coach of the Year.
MSU and Southeast Missouri now are in a two-way tie for second place in the league at 15-8 as SEMO swept a doubleheader at Tennessee State Saturday. The Redhawks, however, have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Eagles, so MSU must win and have SEMO lose at TSU to secure second place and a first-round bye in the tournament which begins Thursday, May 7 in Jacksonville.
Junior pitcher Alex Gjevre improved to 24-8 in the circle by holding the league's top offensive team to only two runs and six hits over a complete-game outing in the second contest. Freshman Janelle Givens also provided what would turn out to be the game-winning run by hitting her first career home run.
In the second game, the Gamecocks drew first blood. In the first, Courtney Underwood doubled to the wall in right center to push home Chrissy O'Neal, who has singled to lead off against Gjevre.
The Eagles finally cracked onto the scoreboard in the fourth. Freshman Sam Woodall ripped a double down the right field line to lead off. Rebecca Butler laid down a sacrifice bunt, but JSU pitcher Ashley Eliasson misfired the ball five feet over first base allowing Woodall to score from third and Butler to move to second. Butler was moved to third by Bianca Cardenas' sacrifice, and then Kayla Brill sliced a base hit to left field to give the Eagles a 2-1 advantage.
In the fifth, Givens upped the MSU lead to 3-1 when she hammered an Eliasson pitch just over the wall in center field.
The Gamecocks crept back to within 3-2 as the leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth, Underwood, lifted a home run to right center field. JSU got a runner on the seventh against Gjevre but she coaxed two outs to end the game and give the Eagles the single season record for wins.
Brill led the Eagles with two of their four hits. Eliasson took the loss to fall to 14-6.
In the opening game, in the opening inning, the Gamecocks jumped on top 3-0 and never relinquished. With two out and two on, Meredith Sellers drove a Sarah Funston pitch over the wall in left field. JSU would add five runs in the fifth to end the game.
Hillary Downs made it a 4-0 JSU lead in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to left centerfield. The hit knocked Funston out of the game. She pitched the first four innings, allowing only four hits and struck out two. Reliever Ashley Boyd entered but promptly gave up a two-run homer to Nikki Prier to make it 6-0 JSU. Allison Svoboda then hit a double to drive in another run, and Mary Beth Ledbetter drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the final of the eight runs and complete the "run rule" contest.
The Eagles were held to two hits.
Funston took the loss in the opener, falling to 8-6. Karla Pittman pitched a complete-game for the Gamecocks to pick up her 15th win.
The teams will conclude the series on Sunday at 2 p.m. EST.
