ELON, N.C. (Feb. 15, 2020)-The Morgan State softball team began the 2020 campaign with two losses on Day 1 of the Phoenix Invitational, hosted by Elon University. The Lady Bears first fell to Radford by a score of 10-0 in six innings, before dropping a heartbreaker to host Elon, 8-5.
 
Inside The Numbers: Game 1

• Radford scored 10 runs on 13 hits and had six walks.
• Morgan State was held to one hit and had five walks.
• Katarina Delph led the Lady Bears, going 1-for-2 with a walk.
• Six different Highlanders crossed home plate.
• Five Radford players recorded two hits.
• Talia Douglas finished the day 2-for-2 with a game-high four runs scored.
• Madison Canady was 2-for-4 with a game-high 5 RBI and scored two runs. 

How It Happened:

• Radford took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Madison Canady singled to third base to score Talia Douglas.
• Canady and Douglas struck again in the third inning when Canady reached on a fielder's choice to pitcher to bring in Douglas for the second run of the game.
• After a scoreless fourth inning, the Highlanders added three more runs in the fifth, when Canady hit a three-run homer to left centerfield to extend the lead to 5-0.
• Radford then closed out the scoring with five runs in the sixth inning. Riley Oakes scored when Douglas doubled down the right field line. Two batters later Douglas scored when Canady reached on a fielding error at second base for a 7-0 lead. D Freeman singled up the middle to score two more runs to make it a 9-0 game and later scored the final run of the game when Cam Anderson singled to center for the 10^th run.
• Radford pitching retired Morgan State in order in the bottom of the sixth to secure the 10-0 victory. 

Inside the Numbers: Game 2

• Morgan State finished the game with five runs on eight hits with 3 RBI and a walk.
• Elon scored eight runs on eight hits, tallied 7 RBI and drew seven walks.
• Ally Repko led the Pheonix with 4 RBI, two runs scored and a walk after going 2-for-3 at the plate. Carley Davis was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.
• Elon's Alexa Nemeth threw a game-high seven strikeouts. Kaitlin King received the win and improved to 2-1.
• Morgan State was led by Aliya Ewell, who went 3-for-4 with a RBI. Meikel Turner finished 2-for-3.
• Stephanie Rundlett fell to 0-2 on the season. She pitched four innings and struck out two.   

How It Happened:

• Morgan State jumped out to an early 3-0 lead with three runs in the top of the second inning. Hannah Lalk scored the first run when Jalian Young reached on a fielding error by the shortstop. Katarina Delph singled through the left side to score Rachel Daugherty and Young scored the third run of the inning when Aliya Ewell singled through the left side and advanced on the throw.
• The Pheonix responded with four runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 4-3 lead. Ally Repko got host Elon on the board with a solo homer to right centerfield. Carley Davis drove in two runs when she singled to left center to score Rebecca McGarry and Keagan Goldwait to tie the score at 3-3. Elon then took the lead on a double steal, when Davis stole second and Lauryn Clarke stole home to give the Pheonix a 4-3 lead.
• Morgan State wasted no time, as it countered with two runs in the fourth inning to reclaim the lead at 5-4. The Lady Bears tied the game at 4-4 when Delph struck out swinging and reached first on an error by the Elon catcher, which allowed Young to score the tying run. Delph later scored the go ahead run when Haylee Bobos reached base on a fielder's choice to shortstop to give the guests a 5-4 advantage.
• The Lady Bears carried the one-run lead until the bottom of the sixth inning when Elon scored four runs on two homers to pull off the comeback victory. Claudia Penny homered to right center on a 3-2 count to tie the game at 5-5. Repko busted the game open when she hit a three-run homer to left center to give the hosts the 8-5 lead and eventually the win.    

Up Next: Morgan State will conclude the Phoenix Invitational with two games on Sunday. The Lady Bears will first face Siena at 11:45 a.m., before closing out against host Elon at 2 p.m.