Jessica Scott stroked two hits in the Lady Bears defeat at the hands of UMBC.
Box Score
The Morgan State softball team hadn't played a game in two-weeks because of inclement weather. However, they returned to the diamond on Thursday afternoon, but were handed a 6-0 defeat at the hands of UMBC.
MSU (1-16, 0-2 MEAC) put up a fight, but could not muster any offense against MD-Baltimore County in the game played on the UMBC campus in Catonsville, MD.
UMBC managed to push across 2 runs apiece in the 2nd, 5th and 6th innings. That would prove to be more than enough to give the Retrievers the victory in the contest played under cloudy skies and cool temperatures.
Rainy weather has kept Morgan State off the diamond for two weeks and they were looking to shake off the rust and beat a tough UMBC squad. Morgan actually out-hit UMBC 8 to 5, but the Lady Bears could not come up with the key hit at the right moment to push across any runs.
The scoring for UMBC started in the 2nd inning when the Retrievers put two runs on the board to take an early 2-0 lead. UMBC would stretch the lead to 4-0 with 2 more runs in the 4th inning. Left fielder Reilly Ward opened the frame with a double to right field, she scored on a ground out by her teammate Stevie Shore. UMBC's Ashlea Underwood came home with the 4th run on a groundout by Jessica Griffith.
In the 6th inning two more UMBC runs would put the game on ice.
The Lady Bears had hits and baserunners, but could not get the big hit with runners in scoring position. The biggest threat for MSU came in the 5th when Morgan State had two runners on and 1 out. Freshman Rachel Allan grounded out to second and Brianne Gutierrez hit a rocket that was tracked down by the UMBC center fielder Kali Shirk.
Jessica Scott and Liz Fernandez each had two hits apiece for MSU. Scott went 2 for 4 while Fernandez had a 2 for 3 day at the plate.
MSU's Keyana Smith was the losing pitcher in the game. Katie Jo Passero picked up the win for UMBC.
Morgan State is scheduled to return to action on Saturday, April 2, 2005 when they travel to Washington, DC. to take on MEAC rival Howard University. That doubleheader is set to get underway at 2:00p.m.
