MURRAY, Ky. – Despite strong work on both sides of the ball, Belmont Softball was unable to take a game on the road at Murray State on Saturday. The Bruins (10-20, 6-15 OVC) dropped its conference doubleheader to the Racers (17-23, 14-10 OVC), 9-1 in six innings of game one and 5-0 in the nightcap.
Murray State jumped out to a quick start in the bottom of the first frame, posting a pair of runs on four hits. Belmont was able to connect the bats but was unable to get a runner around the bases in the early innings. The Racers were able to add to their lead with the help of a solo homerun in the bottom of the third inning. BU was able to begin turning the corner with a change to senior Autumn McDanel (Moravia, Iowa) inside the circle in the top of the next inning. She quickly struck out back-to-back batters and saw sophomore Abi Ledbetter (Livingston, Tenn.) grab the third out unassisted to end the half inning.
In the top of the fifth, BU was able to make its first mark on the scoreboard. Senior Elison Ollinger (Robins, Iowa) reached on four balls and turned on her jets to notch her fourth stolen base of the season. Classmate Georgia McKee (Frisco, Texas) used a sac fly to move her into scoring position before a deep single by freshman Kaley Varner (Cumming, Ga.) sent Ollinger over the plate. In their half of the same frame, the Racers logged four more runs to go up, 8-1. The home team plated its ninth run in the bottom of the sixth to put the game out of reach for good.
In the nightcap, the Racers would be the first to score again, logging its first run in the bottom of the second stanza. Belmont looked to rebound in the top of the third inning. Sophomore Lauren Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.) drove a single up the middle, but BU was unable to get her over home plate. MSU answered in its half of the same inning, pushing a pair of runners home to put the home team ahead, 3-0. The Racers expanded their lead to 5-0 after adding a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to a homerun.
The Bruins had another strong scoring opportunity in the top of the sixth, getting runners on base. Varner reached on four balls and was joined on base by McKee who sent a single to left. Senior Cheyenne Cavanaugh (Spring, Texas) dropped a bunt to load the bases but the Bruins left all three on base. BU's defense kept the Racers from adding additional runs, but the offense could not add runs and the visitors fell, 5-0.
For the day, Ledbetter and Lauren Veltri led the Bruins at the plate for the Bruins, both batting .286.
Inside the circle, the entire Bruin staff saw action. Senior Alicia Veltri (Clarksville, Tenn.) led with seven strikeouts over 4.0 innings of work.
Belmont returns to action on Sunday for the rubber match at MSU. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. The contest can be seen live on ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Live stats will also be available.
