Murray State
Tennessee State
Racers Start OVC Season with Split At Tennessee State
3/20/2010 11:00:00 PM | Softball
The Murray State softball team earned a split in their first Ohio Valley Conference double header against Tennessee State in Nashville, Tenn. The Racers (5-11, 1-1 OVC) earned the win in game one, 8-1, before falling in game two 7-5.
"We were glad to start out conference play with a win," said head coach Jay Pyron. "We played well throughout the day. We put runs on the board and Kristen Broadway threw a good game for us the first game."
Junior Stephanie Mattocks and freshman Kaitlyn England led MSU with four hits. Junior Lauren Buch led the Racers with three RBIs, while England added two.
All four MSU pitchers saw action in game two, with junior Kristen Broadway earning the start and complete-game win in game one. Sophomore Chelsey Sullivan was the starting pitcher in game two and recorded four strike outs.
The Racers will return to action Sunday, March 21 against the Tigers (6-11, 1-1 OVC) at Tiger Field. The first pitch is set to be thrown at 11 a.m.
Game 1 - Murray State 8, Tennessee State 1
The Racers wasted no time to get on the scoreboard in their opening OVC game. Sophomore Megan Glosser started the offense for MSU with a single to third base and then put herself in scoring position. Junior Jenna Bradley took advantage of the scoring opportunity and hit a ball to the left field wall for a double that scored Glosser.
Freshman Kaitlyn England then added another run for the Racers in the top of the second inning. On the first pitch of the inning England hit her second home run of the season over the left field fence to give MSU a 2-0 lead.
The Tigers cut the deficit to one in the bottom of the third after an error put a runner on base. The next batter then singled down the left field line to bring the runner on first to third. A sacrifice fly to center field scored the run to make the score 2-1 in favor of the Racers.
MSU added two more runs in the top of the fourth inning. Freshman Ellyn Troup started the inning off with a single in the gap between third and short and was replaced by freshman Alaina Zloty on first base. Junior Stephanie Mattocks then singled through the same spot. England then hit a single to center field that scored Zloty and both Mattocks and England advanced on the throw home. Freshman Christian Cox then hit a sacrifice fly to right center that allowed Mattocks to cross the plate to make the score 4-1.
The top of the sixth saw the Racers add four more runs. Troup singled to center field and then Mattocks was hit by a pitch before TSU switched pitchers. The new pitcher for the Tigers walked the next two batters to load the bases and walk in the first run of the inning. Freshman Madi Ratliff hit a sacrifice fly to right field that scored a second and left runners on first and third. MSU then went for the double steal that allowed freshman Stephanie Edwards to score. The final run came across when junior Taylor Wilson reached on an error by the Tigers third baseman.
Junior Kristen Broadway picked up the third-straight win in the circle for the Racers, improving her record to 4-2 on the season. It was the Golconda, Ill., native's second complete game. She record one strike out while only allowing two Tiger hits.
Game 2 - Tennessee State 7, Murray State 5
It was TSU's turn to get on the scoreboard early in the second game of the day. The Tigers garnered two runs in the bottom of the first off two walks and a double to right center.
TSU added three more runs in the bottom of the third to go up 5-0. It took two more innings before the Racers got on the board and cut the deficit to two. MSU hit five singles in the inning and had one batter hit by a pitch. The bases were loaded for freshman Megan Belio when she singled down the left field line to draw in the first run. Junior Taylor Wilson then singled to right field to add a second and leave the bases loaded. Freshman Stephanie Edwards then crossed the plate for the final run of the inning on a pass ball to make the score 5-3 in favor of the Tigers.
The Racers came back in the top of the sixth and tied the score at five. Junior Stephanie Mattocks and freshman Kaitlyn England both started the inning with singles up the middle and then advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Junior Lauren Buch doubled to left center to send in both Mattocks and England.
The Tigers came out swinging in the bottom of the sixth and added two runs on two singles and a double to go up 7-5 heading into the seventh. The Racers got four runners on in the bottom of the seventh, but TSU came up with strong defensive plays and didn't allow MSU to score a run to earn the win.
Quotes
Head Coach Jay Pyron
"The first game we were pretty solid. We were disappointed that we dropped the second game, but we showed a lot of positives in that game. We came back from five runs down to tie the game and it is positive to see those little battles in the game."
"We are continuing to take the steps that we need to become the team that we can be."
"I am glad to see Stephanie Mattocks start to swing the bat well. She is a very talented player who is just starting to feel confident at the plate. When she settles in and finds her way she is going to be a leader and impact player on the team."
" Kaitlyn England is a consistent hitter for us and I was glad to see that she swung the bat well today."
"We did a good job, up and down the line up, of taking what the pitcher gave us today. We had good at bats, got on base and put ourselves in good positions to score."
