WAYNE, Neb. – MSU Moorhead's bats woke up in game two to help bring the Dragons a two-game split with Wayne State on Monday afternoon.
Wayne State took game one 6-1 before the Dragons responded with a 17-hit affair for a 14-4 win in game two. In the second contest, freshman
Mack Gallagher hit her 44th and 45th RBIs of the season to create a new MSUM record for RBIs in a single season.
Game One
Wayne State would strike first in game one with two runs in the bottom of the first inning on Dragon starter
Eliya Johnson. The Wildcats scored thanks to an RBI single and on a wild pitch from Johnson later in the frame. Wayne State would score four more runs in the second inning thanks to a pair of RBI doubles and a run on a Dragon throwing error. After two innings, the Wildcats led 6-0.
Although
Lizzy Davis,
Mack Gallagher and Johnson would find base in the third, with Davis making it all the way to third, the Dragons were unable to bring any runs in. Heading into the sixth inning, the Dragons had only managed two hits on Wayne State's Sami Felt.
Throughout the rest of the contest, MSUM would only cobble together two hits on Felt.
Evey Evans would hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh to put the Dragons on the board. However, that would be the only run MSUM came up with in the game as Felt rounded out a complete game performance to grab the victory for the Wildcats, 6-1.
Game Two
It was MSUM who would start the scoring in game two as the Dragons were able to get
Mack Gallagher,
Eliya Johnson and
Evey Evans on base in the frame.
Azalya Lopez capped the sequence with a two-run single that scored Gallagher and Johnson. From there, the Dragons would load the bases later in the inning, but would fall victim to a double play to close the inning. MSUM tallied two hits in the first frame and worked out three walks in their first six at-bats to take 2-0 advantage.
MSUM would load the bases with two outs in the second inning thanks to another three walks by Wayne State. Despite the jam, Wayne State would escape thanks to a strike out of Evans. Wayne State would take advantage with three runs in the second inning to pull in front 3-2. The Dragons would answer right back in the third as
Hannah Losee singled to score
Jordey Smith.
Both teams would go scoreless until the fifth inning with the Dragon offense stirring once more.
Lizzy Davis and
Azalya Lopez each had doubles in the inning to combine for five RBIs to pull MSUM in front 8-4. Smith would later score Lopez on a single for an insurance run. Wayne State would answer with just one run in the home half of the fifth as the Dragons led 9-4 with two innings remaining.
Mack Gallagher would knock in another run for MSUM in the sixth inning on a single to score
Eliyah McCarthy. The RBI was Gallagher's 44
th of the season, tying the single-season school record. MSUM would later load the bases in the frame as Smith would single home another run to push the score to 11-4.
Lizzy Davis would bring in her third RBI of the game in the seventh inning on a double to score Losee. Later in the inning, Gallagher would bring Davis in on a single to surpass the MSUM record for RBIs in a season.
Evey Evans would single in Gallagher later in the frame to put the Dragons up 14-4.
Evans closed down the game in the circle for MSUM, pitching the final three innings and only surrendering one hit. In total, MSUM tallied 17 hits in the 14-4 game two win.
Up Next
MSUM (24-10, 12-4 NSIC) is scheduled to play Minnesota Duluth on Wednesday afternoon in Duluth beginning at 12 p.m. Any and all schedule updates will be released as information becomes available.
