VILLANOVA, Pa. (May 4, 2017)-The Morgan State softball team concluded their non-conference schedule with a doubleheader loss to Villanova on Wednesday at the VU Softball Complex. The host Wildcats defeated Morgan State, 12-4 in six innings in Game 1, before earning a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over the Lady Bears in the second game.
 
The losses were the third straight for Lady Bears (23-18), who have now dropped four of their last five contests. Villanova, which was also playing in their final non-conference games of the regular season, improved to 34-17 with the wins.
 
Morgan State, which is having its best season since 1998, when that team finished 25-9 overall and went 16-0 in the MEAC, is three wins shy of setting the school record for wins. The Lady Bears will wrap up the regular season this weekend, when they host MEAC Northern Division leader Hampton for a three-game series. The series gets underway with a single game on Saturday, May 6 at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at noon. All three games will be played at Lois T. Murray Field.
 
Game 1   
The Wildcats quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first game after two innings of play. Kendall Ohman led off the first inning with a single through the left side and Lauren Herschberg followed with a double to left center to score Ohman for the first run. Herschberg would score the second run for Villanova, when she crossed home on a wild pitch. Natalia Segovia gave the hosts a 3-0 lead when she singled to left field to score Nikki Alden.
 
Villanova added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning when Dana Morris homered to left center to make it a 5-0 contest.
 
After Morgan State's Giselle Alvarez got on base with a bunt single to break up Villanova's no hit bid in the fourth, the Wildcats went back to work with four runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to extend their lead to 9-0.
 
The damage began when the Wildcats' Alden was hit by a pitch with two outs. Natalia Segovia stepped in a hit a double down the left field line and Chase Snell walked to load the bases. Morgan State would then make a pitching change, but Villanova's Jessica Angersbach singled to right field to score two runs and give the hosts a 7-0 lead. Delaney Switzer followed with a two-out two-run triple to right center for the 9-0 cushion.
 
Morgan State responded with four runs in the top of the fifth to cut the Villanova lead to 9-4. Mikaela Browdy got the Lady Bears started with a double to left field and later advanced to third base on passed ball. Rachel Daugherty singled through the left side to score Browdy for the first run. Giselle Alvarez doubled to left center to score Daugherty for the second Lady Bears' run. Stormy Zyzyk would hit a single down the right field line to score both Alvarez and Stephanie Collett to bring Morgan State within 9-4.
 
Villanova would tack on three runs in the sixth inning to close out the scoring. The Wildcats would load the bases after three consecutive hits and Becky Ducar stepped in with a fourth straight single of the inning to score a run. With bases still loaded, Ohman walked to score Angersbach for the second run of the inning. The third and final run of the inning would come on a sacrifice fly hit by Dana Morris to score Switzer for the 12-4 victory.
 
The Wildcats finished the first game with 12 runs on 16 hits, while the Lady Bears scored four runs on eight hits.
 
Game 2
Morgan State scored one run each in the first and second innings to take a 2-0 advantage over Villanova in the second contest. Giselle Alvarez scored in the first inning off of Audrianna Alvarez's ground out to the pitcher and Rachel Daugherty scored a run in the second inning on an error by the catcher for the Wildcats.
 
Villanova got a run back in the bottom half of the second when Natalia Segovia scored on an error to cut the Morgan State lead to 2-1.
 
The Wildcats tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Brittany Husk scored on a two-out double hit by Lauren Herschberg to even the score.
 
The score would remain tied until the fifth inning when Segovia hit a solo shot over the left field fence, which would prove to be the difference and give the hosts a 3-2 victory.
 
Amy Begg (20-10) would be charged with the loss for Morgan State. Begg threw six strikeouts to extend her single-season school record and MEAC high to 160, and remains one win away from tying the school record for victories. Meanwhile, Villanova's Brette Lawrence improved to 24-8 on the season to set the school record for wins.