BALTIMORE, M.D. - The Fairleigh Dickinson University softball team defeated Morgan State Sunday afternoon at Lois T. Murray Field. The win moves the Knights to 2-6 on the season.
FDU returns to action on Friday, March 9th when they head to Washington, D.C. for a meeting with the Princeton Tigers at 10 a.m.
The FDU bats woke up early Sunday morning against the Bears, opening up the game with a two-run, two hit first inning to give FDU an early lead. After
Serena Meehan drew a leadoff walk,
Summer Mendoza smacked a hard-hit triple into the gap in center field to score Meehan from first.
The next at-bat, a throwing error allowed Madison Emerson to reach safely before a
Reanna Cervantes single scored Mendoza to give FDU the 2-0 lead early.
The Bears recouped one run in the bottom of the first to cut the deficit in half, however the FDU bats responded with another huge inning in the second to blow the game wide open.
A leadoff single for Emerson followed by a double from Cervantes put runners on second and third for the Knights. Back to back strikeouts from
Holly Mercier and
Rylie Schmeh threatened to derail the FDU rally before it could get going, however Abbey England stepped up and finally connected on a booming double to left field that scored Cervantes and Emerson and pushed FDU's lead to 4-1.
The hit parade kept on coming, as
Logan Kolehmainen got into the action connected on a single. Senior
Jaymee Jackson's double scored Kolehmainen and England to give FDU the 6-1 lead.
Pitcher
Baylee Ports locked it down in the bottom of the fifth, getting the Bears to ground out on three straight at bats to keep the FDU lead at 6-1. The Knights tacked on two more in the top of the 6th to make it 8-1 after another three-hit inning. Cervantes and Mercier smacked back-to-back doubles and England drove a single into the center field gap as FDU continued to pour it on.
MSU mounted a brief rally in the bottom of the 6th, getting back three runs off of five hits and an error, however Ports worked out of the jam with the lead still intact before finishing things off with another strong inning in the bottom of the 7th to secure the win for FDU.
The win moves Ports to 1-2 on the season. FDU collected 15 hits on the afternoon, including six extra-base hits. Cervantes and England each finished with a team-high three hits.
