CATONSVILLE- The Morgan State Lady Bears already went through their games of heartbreak on Friday in one-run losses to Niagara and UMBC. It wasn't quite over yesterday as they were held to a run in a 2-1 loss to St. Francis (PA). Then in the second game, late heroics on offense and defense led to Morgan State's dramatic 5-4 victory over Brown to salvage one game out of this weekend at the UMBC Spring Classic at UMBC Softball Stadium.
Morgan Head coach Jeff Bozier and his staff had to find a way of breaking the trend of heartbreaking losses the Lady Bears have suffered through in the last couple of weeks. Bozier said, "Our job became to keep them motivated. Just keep them fighting. there were a lot of compliments from the coaching staff of all the other teams that were very impressed with the way Morgan State represented this weekend. So the Brown win was a sweet, sweet win for us."
St. Francis (PA) 2, Morgan State 1
Red Flash junior pitcher Megan Layne pitched a complete game masterpiece as she struck out eight Lady Bears while walking one. Layne only gave up one run and three hits in her complete game effort. She held the Lady Bears to only one hit in the first five innings.
St. Francis head coach Sabrina Lane said about Layne's effort, "Megan was on her game. She struggled late in the game the last couple of games. Especially after those late inning games. I've been using her a lot. She is getting a lot of work and I think she's coming a long way with conference coming next weekend. That's what our goal is. To start conference strong. So this is a good win coming into our first conference game."
The defense of St. Francis held the aggressive running Lady Bears at bay on the bases. The Red Flash (7-19) jumped on the Bears with two runs in the first inning on a leadoff triple by junior Katie McMellen followed by an RBI single from sophomore Brianna Garcia. Garcia was driven home by an RBI ground out from junior Kaitlin Andler.
That first inning proved to be huge for Coach Lane's young ladies. Lane said, "We started off well. Katie started the game off with a triple. Anytime you can lead off the game with a hit like that, you boost your offense' confidence and it brings down their defense. That really helps us a lot. Morgan State has been battling this weekend. They're a great team. So we're lucky to squeak one out right now."
Rubin drove in a run in the sixth with a two-out RBI single. But that's all Morgan State could muster as they wasted two different run scoring opportunities in the game.
Morgan State 5, Brown 4
Morgan State only had 20 minutes to drop the previous game from their memory and play a team that's been a threat to score in bunches already this season.
The Lady Bears were in trouble from the start as pitcher Megan Johnson found herself with runners on second and third with two out in the top of the first inning. But Johnson induced a pop-up from Alyssa Caplan to third to get out of the situation.
Morgan State (7-15) got something going with two out in the bottom of the first. Tamra Griffin drew a walk, then Lydia Walther-Rodriguez singled deep to short placing runners on first and second. The Gabrielle Gomez hit a grounder to third, but the throw eluded first base and got to the fence by the Brown dugout. That error scored Griffin to give the Lady Bears an early 1-0 lead.
In the top of the second, the Brown Bears fired back. With one out, freshman catcher Kristi Munoz hit one of her two homeruns in the game. This first HR went over the left field fence to tie the game at one. Then Kelsey Williams smashed a double to center field. Next, Danie Palms flied to right. After a passed ball by catcher Shareday Christina advanced Williams to third, Jen Kries singled up the middle, driving in Williams. this gave Brown a 2-1 lead.
Brown (5-5-1) added one more run in the sixth inning courtesy of Munoz. Jordan Eades, who came in for Johnson to begin the fifth inning, had her chance to face Munoz. This time, the freshman sent Eades' pitch just over the right field fence to lead off the inning for her second home run of the game. Brown stretched their advantage to 3-1.
But the Bears fought back in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Hannah Montgomery, who pinch hit for Sakina Smith, drew a walk. Next, Amber Frame singled to right, placing runners on first and third. Davina Brown was hit by a pitch after that which loaded the bases.
At that point, Brown head coach Deedee Enabenter-Omidiji took out starting pitcher Lauren Kattchee and brought in Trish Melvin to relieve her.
Tiffany Rubin greeted Melvin by smashing her pitch down the left field line for a double, driving in two runs to tie the game at three. But Morgan State head coach Jeff Bozier attempted to send Rubin home and she was thrown out at the plate by Munoz to a diving Melvin who tagged her out before the ball squirted out of her glove. That error scored Brown from third to give Morgan State a 4-3 lead.
Then insurance was added in the form of Tamra Griffin. The senior from Virginia Beach launched a change-up over the center field fence to extend the Morgan State advantage to 5-3.
Griffin said about the home run, "The catcher (Munoz) was kind of giving away every pitch that (Melvin) was going to throw. She saw the first change-up that she had threw to me in that sequence that I had fouled back. She thought she was going to beat me on it again. I heard (Munoz) say Melvin was going to go with the change-up. Then I was like I'll be waiting & that's what happened. Thank her."
In the top of the seventh, Brown turned up the pressure offensively. Stephanie Thompson singled through the left side. Then Kate Strobel stroked a double down the left field line, scoring Thompson to cut the deficit to 5-4.
Next, Alyssa Caplan hit a ground ball to Eades for the first out. Then Nina Melvin, who pinch hit for Kattchee, grounded out to the shortstop. Munoz came up again and Coach Bozier instructed Eades to intentionally walk the hot hitting freshman. As Jordan was executing Coach Bozier's directions, she was called for an illegal pitch by the home plate umpire. That sent Strobel to third. The walk to Munoz put runners on first and third with two outs.
Kelsey Williams then grounded a ball that glanced off Griffin's glove at first right into the glove of Frame at second, who then threw out Williams to seal the win for Morgan State. Bozier was happy about that play alone because most of those one-run losses were due to defensive lapses at the most inopportune times of the game. A couple of those errors took place with two outs and a chance to finish those games.
Bozier said about the last play, "That was the ceiling we needed to break. Because it was almost deja vu all weekend long. It came down to that and we just, when put under pressure, just wasn't respondingthe way that we should've. Amber Frame made that last out in the game against Brown, who was the very same kid who bobbled the ball this past weekend. So it was in the last inning to allow the team to win the game. But I felt good now. (Amber) felt like she redeemed herself. The whole message was that's what happens when you stay competitive and continue to compete. So, some good things happened for us."
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