March 8, 2013

4   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E  Lafayette 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 2 4  Morgan State 0 0 0 0 0 4 X 4 3 2 Box Score 2

TOWSON, Md. - Morgan State's four-run sixth inning erased Lafayette's early advantage and kept the Leopard softball team from its third victory of the season in a 4-2 final on Friday in the first round of the Towson Invitational.

The game was scoreless through three before Lafayette (2-4) pushed across two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Allison Thomas drove in the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly. The Leopards were aided by two errors in the inning, the second allowing Melissa Robinson to score and give Lafayette a 2-0 lead. Robinson and freshman Allison Brown accounted for the Leopards' two hits on the afternoon.

Morgan State (2-12) sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom half of the sixth and the Leopard defense was not up to the task, committing a pair of crucial errors. Kimber Salvas reached on a lead-off single off Robinson and later scored on a ground out after advancing on a fielding error. Kimberly Fontaine drew a walk with the bases loaded to  tie the game.

With two outs in the inning, Nicole Vandenberg hit a ground ball to short that should have ended the inning, but an error allowed two more runs to score and Morgan State led 4-2.

In the Lafayette seventh, the Leopards were retired in order to leave the final at 4-2. Robinson (2-3) took the loss, allowing four runs (one earned) on three hits in six innings while striking out and walking four. Shanice Crowder (1-4) was the winner as the senior did not allow a hit in the final 2.2 innings.

Day two of the Towson Invitational will pit Lafayette vs. Brown at 12:45 p.m. and Morgan State at 3 p.m.