Softball Changes Schedule; To Play At Alabama State

Game Notes | Live Stats

Dates: Feb. 15-16, 2014
Tournament Name (Host): Hornet Invitational (Alabama State)
Site: Montgomery, Ala. (Barbara Williams Softball Complex)
Live Stats: GoRacers.com
Twitter In Game: @MSURacers @PGriffithMSU
MSU vs. The Field: 2-0
All-Time Series vs. GWU: First Meeting
All-Time Series vs. ASU: MSU leads 2-0
All-Time Series vs. AAMU: First Meeting
MSU Next Tournament: Feb. 21-23, Blues City Classic hosted by Memphis (Southaven, Miss.)
MSU Next Home: Mar. 15-16 vs. UT Martin

The Murray State softball team had their plans for the weekend changed, when Kennesaw State's Phyllis Rafter Memorial was canceled due to Winter Storm Pax. However, all is well that ends well as the Racers were able to fill in at Alabama State's Hornet Invitational after another team canceled, also due to Pax.

The Racers opened their 2014 season last weekend by going 2-2 at LSU's Tiger Classic. They posted wins over Central Arkansas and Oklahoma State, but fell to tournament-winner Minnesota and then 17th-ranked LSU. The win over Central Arkansas marked just the second season-opening win of the season, while the win over Oklahoma State was the fourth in program history over a power conference and the first over a Big XII opponent. Also in the opener against UCA, MSU tied a program record by tallying three triples in the contest for the first time since the team's very first game in 2010.

Every MSU player recorded at least one hit on the weekend, including the four freshman starters. Speaking of the freshman, the group showed how they earned their spots by each tallying at least two hits and at least one extra-base hit. Freshman Jessica Twaddle led the Racers on the weekend with a .444 average, four hits, four runs, three walks, a double, a triple and a RBI. For her efforts, she was named to the 2014 Tiger Classic All-Tournament team.

Gardner-Webb split its opening weekend when it hosted Charlotte at home, losing game one, 8-0, but bouncing back to take game two, 6-3. The difference between game one and game two proved to be the pitching of Jessica Childers.
Childers pitched a complete game in the back end of the doubleheader and allowed just one earned run on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Samantha Meenaghan also came up huge for GWU in the DH, going 3-for-4 in each game to finish the weekend 6-for-8 with a triple, a RBI and three stolen bases.

Alabama State also spent last weekend in Louisiana, as it competed in Southeastern Louisiana's Tangi Tourism Lion Classic. It turned out to be a rough weekend for ASU, as they dopped all five games on the weekend. The Hornets dropped run-rule decisions to both UMKC and Nicholls State, but fell by only four to Southeastern Louisiana, three to Akron and just one to Buffalo.

Kendall Core led the Hornets in the Classic by starting all five game at third base and going 5-for-13 for a .385 average. Melissa Christmann started two games for ASU in the circle and posted a team-low ERA of 3.50 with an opposing batting average of .259.

Alabama A&M went 3-2 to open the season at last weekend's Hampton Jordan Softball Classic hosted by Claflin in Orangeburg, S.C. The Bulldogs earned their wins of a trio of Division II teams, Bluefield State, Fayetteville State and Clark Atlanta, but fell to a NAIA team, Brenau, and a Division I team, South Carolina State.

Chelsey Ferguson and Taiya McInness both did well for the Bulldogs on opening weekend, hitting .615 and .563, respectively. Ferguson was 8-for-13 with six runs, a double, two triples, six RBIs, two walks and a stolen base, while McInnes was 9-for-16 with six runs, a double, a triple, seven RBIs and a walk. In the circle, Anisa Britt tossed a complete game three-hit shutout for her lone win of the week, while Cassandra Brown went 2-0 with 12 strikeouts and 5.25 ERA.

Live stats will be available for all three game of the tournament, with links posted at the top of this page and at GoRacers.com.

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