MOREHEAD, Ky. –
Jade Montgomery had five strikeouts and allowed just two unearned runs on Saturday afternoon as Eastern Illinois won its Ohio Valley Conference opener 5-2 at Morehead State. The two teams will play a doubleheader on Sunday to wrap up the series.
The Panthers provided Montgomery some offense to pitch behind early in the contest. After three straight walks in the first to
Megan Burton,
Mia Davis and
Haley Mitchell;
Hannah Cravens drove home the first run of the game for EIU.
Burton would add to the damage in the second as she connected for a three-run home run scoring
Morgan Lewis and
Katie Nicholson who both reached on singles.
The long ball would continue for EIU in the third as Mitchell connected for a solo blast, the 18th home run of the season hit by the Panthers.
Morehead State would cut into the Panthers lead in the fourth as Lennon Spicer had a two-run single with two outs after the inning was extended by an EIU error. Spicer led Morehead State with two hits. She was also the pitcher of record for the Eagles falling to 3-3 on the year.
Burton and Mitchell both led EIU at the plate with 2-for-3 days while Montgomery improved to 4-3 in the circle this season.
EIU moved to 8-4 overall, 1-0 in the OVC as it was the first conference win for second year head coach
Tara Archibald. Last season EIU did not start OVC play prior to the COVID-19 shutdown. Morehead State fell to 4-4, 0-1 in the OVC.
