The Morgan State softball team’s historic season came to an end with a 10-3 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday night in the regional round of the NCAA Division I tournament in Norman, Oklahoma.
After claiming their second Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Northern Division title and first MEAC tournament crown, the Bears made their post NCAA postseason appearance. They lost to No. 1 overall seed Oklahoma, 19-0, in five innings on Friday night in the first game of the double-elimination regional round.
On Saturday, Texas A&M loaded the bases in the bottom half of the first when Dani Elder fought off a 3-2 pitch to right-center field just over the outstretched arm of the second baseman to score two runs.
Morgan State’s defense kept it in the game, as it caught two Aggies (32-22) attempting to steal in the second inning. Ashlynn Walls led off the inning with a walk and tried to steal second, but Morgan State catcher Haylee Bobos threw a strike to Mia Ewell who placed the tag on Walls for the out. Makinzy Herzog getting caught stealing at home to end the inning.
Texas A&M got back on the board in the third inning with three runs, all with two outs, to push its lead to 5-0. A two-out error at third allowed Rylen Wiggins to reach base and Shaylee Ackerman to score from third. Walls followed with a double to left center to bring two more runs across the plate.
Haley Lee hit her seventh homer of the season with a solo shot to left center in the fourth inning, as the Aggies’ lead increased to 6-0.
After a scoreless fifth inning, Morgan State (24-17) made another bit of history in the sixth. Leah Victor recorded a pinch-hit double to center to score Kyley Fijalkowski all the way from first for the first run of the game and the first run of Morgan’s NCAA Regional history. However, the Bears weren’t done yet. Trailing 6-1, Ellen Ebbers hit a double off the left-center wall to bring in two more runs and make it 6-3.
But the celebration would be short lived, as back-to-back walks and a fielding error loaded the bases for Lee, who homered to center field to give the Aggies a 10-3 advantage. Lee finished 3-for-4 with a game-high three runs and five RBIs.
More college softball: UMBC was edged by Villanova, 4-3, in an NCAA regional elimination game on Saturday night in Tuscon, Arizona.
Fifth-year senior Maddie Daigneau, playing in her home state, picked up a pair of hits, scored a run and stole a base in the final game of her career. She finished her career with 209 hits, the 11th most in program history, and finishes as the all-time leader in triples (16) and fourth all-time in stolen bases (67).
Sierra Pierce had three hits and drove in a pair on a two-RBI double in the third that put UMBC (25-13) up 2-0 early. Courtney Coppersmith had a hit and drove in the other run on a grounder that briefly put UMBC up 3-0. Villanova (37-14) answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth and pulled ahead on an infield single in the bottom of the sixth.
Coppersmith struck out 12 in the loss, finishing the season 19-4 and with a 0.93 ERA, which is tied for the lowest in a single season in program history.
Meghan Dempsey had a pair of hits and a pair of hits and a stolen base. Casey Turner (Eastern Tech/CCBC Catonsville) had a hit and was robbed of a game-tying extra-base hit on the final play of the game. Julia Keffler scored a run and stole a base, while Karly Keating also scored a run as a pinch-runner.