Lady Bears Defeat Howard, 8-7 in 11 Innings - Morgan State University Athletics

Morgan State 8, Howard 7 (11 innings)

BALTIMORE, Md. (April 21, 2012)-Tiffany Rubin went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and 2RBI, while Boshia Richardson went 1-for-5 and drove in three runs to help Morgan State defeat Howard, 8-7 in 11 innings in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) North Division game on Saturday afternoon at Lois T. Murray Field.

The victory ended a seven-game losing skid for the Lady Bears and an eight-game MEAC North Division losing streak.

The game, which began at 11:30 a.m. this morning, was a completion of Friday evening's Game 2, which was suspended due to darkness prior to the start of the eighth inning with the score tied at 6-6.

Morgan State, which is fighting for its MEAC championship life, overcame a 3-0 first inning deficit and trailed 6-2 after five innings, before scoring two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh inning to even the game at 6-6 and force extra innings.

The pitching and defense tightened on both sides, as the neither team was able to generate any runs for the next three innings. The international tie-breaker rule went into effect at the start of the 10^th inning and a runner was placed on second base at the start of the inning.

The Lady Bears finally were able to put something together in the top of the 11^th, when Amber Bachman singled, advancing Lydia Walther-Rodriguez, who was placed on second to start the inning, to third base. Shanice Crowder then reached on a bunt single and advanced to second, scoring Walther-Rodriguez and giving the Lady Bears their first lead of the game. Amber Frame later grounded out to first base, which allowed Bachman to score and increase the Morgan State advantage to 8-6.

Howard seemed as if it wouldn't take long to get the runs back, when Jenny Ly led off the inning with a double. Briana Banks, who was placed on second to start the inning, tried to score on the play was thrown out at home. But Lorae Robinson singled to center field to score Ly, making it an 8-7 game. The Lady Bison had runners on second and third, when Andascha Moore-Pryor lined a shot toward shortstop, which hit Howard base runner Rebecca Kirshner running from second base, thus ending the game and preserving the win for Morgan State.

The Lady Bison, who sit in fifth-place and are also fighting to stay alive for the league championship, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning after Trina Kindred singled through the right side to drive in two runs. Anasia Stinson was then hit by a pitch to load up the bases, forcing Morgan State to replace starting pitcher Jordan Eades with Amber Bachman. Bachman would face just two batter striking out both Ashley Turner and Banks to prevent further damage.

Morgan State finally got back in the game with two runs in the fourth inning off of a two-run RBI single hit by Boshia Richardson down the left field line, bringing the Lady Bears within 3-2.

But Howard quickly got the runs back in the bottom half of the inning when Dominique Lawrence doubled to bring in two runs and increase the Lady Bison's lead to 5-2. Howard would add another run in the fifth off of a RBI single up the middle by Turner to score Stinson and give the Lady Bison a 6-2 lead.

Morgan State would not go away, scoring two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings. Danielle Lugo led off the sixth with a walk and Rubin followed with a RBI double to left field. Two batters later Richardson reached on a fielder's choice, allowing Rubin to score and cut the Howard advantage to 6-4.

The Lady Bears kept the momentum going in the top of the seventh when Shanice Crowder scored on a fielder's choice hit by Lugo and Rubin later singled up the middle to drive in Shareday Christina tying the game up at 6-6 and eventually forcing extra innings.

The Lady Bears and Howard will conclude their three game series today at 1 p.m. at Lois T. Murray Field.

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