ORLANDO, Fla. (Feb. 23, 2018)-The Morgan State softball team split on Day 1 of the Diamond 9 Citrus Classic on Friday at ESPN's Wide World of Sports Complex. The Lady Bears (3-5) defeated fellow Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference foe, Savannah State, 12-4 in five innings in a non-conference game, before dropping a 5-0 decision to Duke.
In the opener against Savannah State, Damali Young led the Lady Bears with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate and three runs scored, while Gabriella Gorosave also went 3-for-4 and had 3RBIs.Young would also record two stolen bases, giving her four on the season.
Savannah State (3-2) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning when E Humes homered to left field to drive in three runs. The Tigers increased their lead to 4-0 when Drea Lesure scored on a sac bunt in the second inning.
Morgan State responded with 12 straight runs, including back-to-back five-runs in the second and third innings.
Trailing 4-2 in the second inning, Giselle Alvarez doubled to center field to drive in two runs and tie the score at 4-4. Alvarez later scored on an RBI single hit by Gorosave to give the Lady Bears a 5-4 lead.
The Lady Bears extended their lead to 10-4 in the third inning, when Gorosave singled to left field and advanced on an error by the left fielder, which allowed both Young and Alvarez to score.
Morgan State would add two more runs in the fifth inning for the game's final score. Â
Savannah State was led by Brianna Harris, who went 2-for-2 at the plate with a run scored and Elizabeth Humes finished 1-for-2 with a run scored and 3RBI.
Pitcher Amy Begg improved to 2-3 on the year with the win. Begg pitched all five innings and added four strikeouts.
Morgan State finished the game scoring 12 runs on 12 hits, while Savannah State had four runs on four hits.
Game 2 would be all Duke, as the Blue Devils (7-3) would score five runs on eight hits, while holding the Lady Bears scoreless on three hits.
Duke pitcher Peyton St. George improved to 1-1 on the season with the win, while striking out 12 batters. Stephanie Rundlett (1-2) was charged with the loss.
The Blue Devils took struck first with a run in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead. That one-run advantage would hold up until the fifth inning, when Duke scored three runs to extend its lead to 4-0.
Jameson Kavel hit a two-run homer to the left field to make it 3-0 and Jill Ferraro singled to right field to score Rachel Abboud to make it a 4-0 game. Dominique Salinas would steal third and then score on an error in the sixth inning for Duke's final run.
The Lady Bears will face Louisville on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., before taking on Miami-Ohio at 5:30 p.m. All of the game can be watched on live stream by clicking here.
