TOWSON, Md. (April 22, 2015)–Towson senior Missy McCormick had a pair of walk-off hits to lead the Towson softball team to a non-conference doubleheader sweep of Morgan State at the Tiger Softball Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
McCormick broke a tie with a RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Towson a 4-3 victory in game one and blasted a game-sealing two-run home run to give the Tigers an 11-3 win in game two.
With the doubleheader sweep, Towson improved to 27-18 overall and 13-0 inside the Tiger Softball Stadium. Morgan State, which dropped its fourth consecutive game, fell to 4-28 overall.
Junior Olivia Yarbrough went 5-for-6 on the day with three runs scored, while Kendyl Scott drove in five runs and McCormick drove in four for the host Tigers.
Towson got on the board in the first inning of game one when Yarbrough led off with a walk and later scored on a groundout from Shelby Stracher.
Morgan State immediately responded in the second when senior Zina Constancia led off the frame with a solo home run to left.
After a short rain delay, the Tigers regained the lead in the bottom of the second. Tateum Valentine led off the inning with a triple, but was still on third with two outs when Brook Miko hit a sharp grounder to short. The hit brought in Valentine and then Daria Edwards came in to make it 3-0 on a wild throw to first by the Bears shortstop.
Morgan State cut into the Tiger lead in the fourth inning with a big two-out rally. Kimberly Fontaine was hit by a pitch and Nicole Holguin singled to get two on for the Bears. Fontaine scored on an error by Valentine and then Holguin came home when Stracher attempted to throw out a Bear stealing second.
With the game still tied at 3-3 in the seventh, Holiday Cahill reached on an error and then stole second to get into scoring position. With two down in the inning, McCormick came through with the game-winning single through the left side to bring in Cahill and give the Tigers a 4-3 win.
Megan Dejter, who came into the game in relief of Ambar Hickman, earned her seventh win of the year, allowing just one hit and no runs in three innings of work.
Towson scored early and often in game two. McCormick drove in a run in the first inning and then the Tigers batted around in the second while plating five runs. Scott had the big blast in the second frame with a bases-clearing three-RBI double.
Trailing 6-0 in the top of the third, Morgan State scored its only runs of the game off a three-run home run off the bat of Kate Vosper.
The Tigers scored two runs in the bottom half of the third and then ended the game in the fifth inning with three more runs. McCormick's game-winning home run was her seventh of the season.
Olivia Baltazar improved to 3-0 on the year, pitching all five innings and recording five strike outs.
Morgan State returns to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference action this weekend when it travels to Princess Anne, Md. to take on the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. The Lady Bears and Lady Hawks square off on Saturday, April 25 in a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m., before closing out the series with a single game on Sunday at noon for the Lady Hawks' Senior Day.
