SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 3, Belmont 0
@Morehead State 3, Belmont 2
Eastern Kentucky 3, @Jacksonville State 1
@Jacksonville State 6, Eastern Kentucky 4
MOREHEAD STATE 3, BELMONT 0; MOREHEAD STATE 3, BELMONT 2
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State softball team swept a doubleheader against Ohio Valley Conference opponent Belmont to secure a series victory on Saturday at University Field. MSU took game one, 3-2, before shutting out BU in game two, 3-0.
The Eagles move to 22-19 overall and 8-11 in OVC play, while the Bruins fall to 14-31 and 4-18 in conference action.
Senior Katie Pfost earned the victory in the circle in the opener to move to 13-10 on the season. The lefty allowed two earned runs off six hits and struck out three in a complete-game effort. Junior Mia Vierra suffered the loss for the Bruins to fall to 4-7.
At the plate, senior outfielder Sam Woodall led the Eagles with a pair of hits, while senior designated player Adrena Anderson had a pair of RBI.
Belmont struck first, in the top of the third, off an RBI double to left from sophomore outfielder Heather Turner, but Bartko hit a home run over the right field fence to even the score in the bottom half of the frame.
MSU took the lead in the bottom of the fourth off a two-RBI single to left from Anderson, and sophomore Kat Hollingsworth connected on her team-leading 11th home run of the 2013 season in the top of the sixth, to try and start a comeback. However, the Eagle defense was able to hold on for the victory.
In game two, the Eagles used runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings to secure the win. Senior Amber Riddle and Woodall each drove in a run for MSU, and Riddle connected on her team-leading eighth home run of the season.
Junior Kelcey McMurray (5-7) earned the complete-game shutout in game two. She surrendered five hits and struck out a career-high 10 batters. Junior Brittanie Alrbight took the loss for Belmont to fall to 3-8.
Anderson went 3-for-4 in game two, while Riddle hit a pair and drove in two.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 1; JACKSONVINLLE STATE 6, EASTERN KENTUCKY 4
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Sophomore Sara Borders belted a late three-run home run to cap a Jacksonville State rally and salvage a doubleheader split with Eastern Kentucky in Ohio Valley Conference softball action on Saturday at University Field.
With the Gamecocks (26-24, 11-11 OVC) trailing the Colonels (32-18, 17-6 OVC) by three in the bottom of the sixth, Borders got ahead of pitcher Shaylon Robb and grooved her 3-1 pitch over the wall in right. The team-leading 11th homer of the year for Borders capped a five-run sixth and propelled JSU to a 6-4 win. EKU won the opening game 3-1 in 10 innings.
Borders, a native of Alexandria, Ala., went 3-for-4 with four RBI in the nightcap to cap a 5-for-8 day at the plate. She was the only Gamecock to record multiple hits in both games and raised her team-leading average to .390 and an impressive .435 against OVC foes.
A Sarah Fobbs double off of JSU starter Savanna Hennings gave EKU a first-inning lead in the second game before Borders drove in senior Krystal Ruth to tie it. The Colonels pushed one across in the third and two more in the fourth to give Robb a 4-1 lead going into the sixth. Sophomore Savannah Sloan singled to start the inning and scored on a double off of the left field wall from senior Cara Longworth for the first run, and then senior Jessica Guy cut the deficit to 4-3 on a two-out single through the right side.
That hit brought up Borders, who had already singled and doubled in the game, to deliver the game winning blast.
Hennings (6-1) closed the door on her third complete game of the season in the seventh and earned the win after holding one of the OVC's best offenses to four runs on seven hits in seven innings. The native of Springville, Ala., struck out six and walked five in the winning effort. Robb (9-9) suffered the loss for EKU, surrendering six runs on 10 hits and three walks in six innings in the circle.
Katie Tackett had three of the Colonels' seven hits in her four at bats, including an RBI double in the third inning.
The first game of the day featured a pitchers' duel between junior Tiffany Harbin and EKU's Leanna Pittsenbarger. Both tossed all 10 innings and gave up just one earned run, but it was a pair of unearned runs in the 10th inning that pushed the Colonels past the Gamecocks.
Harbin surrendered a two-out homer to Fobbs in the first and then held the Colonel bats in check over the next 8.2 innings before the Colonels broke the tie in the 10th. With the International Tiebreaker Rule coming into play in the 10th, Fobbs was placed on second and scored after a sac bunt and an infield single by Christina Ciolek. After loading the bases, Harbin got Melissa Costa to roll one over to second, but Johnston couldn't come up with it before a second run scored to make it 3-1.
The Gamecocks couldn't get anything going against Pittsenbarger in the bottom of the 10th, and the Colonels held on for the win. Pittsenbarger (19-8) struck out 10 Gamecocks and allowed a run on five hits, while Harbin (13-13) struck out nine and surrendered three runs on 13 hits. The native of Hazel Green, Ala., runs her career strikeout total to 658, increasing the new school record that she set last week.
Johnston joined Borders as the two Gamecocks with a 2-for-4 first game and she also drove in the Gamecocks' lone run on a double in the sixth that plated Borders after a leadoff single and a steal of second base.
Ciolek and Hailey Scenasi each went 3-for-5 to lead EKU at the plate in the first game.