Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

RICHMOND, Ky. – In a doubleheader split with Dayton on Monday, the Eastern Kentucky softball team had 26 hits in the two games combined. The Colonels last-inning comeback fell short in a 5-4 loss in the first game. EKU posted a 7-2 victory in the second game.

In game one, Kathleen Maloof led off the game with a home run for Dayton (12-22-1). A sacrifice fly later in the inning staked the Flyers to an early 2-0 lead after the first inning. A fielder’s choice with the bases loaded in the third stretched the Dayton lead to 3-0.

UD led 5-0 before Eastern Kentucky (11-23) got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. After a triple by Melissa Costa, Christina Datko singled up the middle to cut the deficit to four. Another triple by Costa drove in two runs in the bottom of the seventh to draw the home team to within two. Samm Daniels made it a one-run game with a two-out infield single with runners at the corners. With the tying run at second and the winning run at first, Diane Gallagher flied out to left field.

Maloof finished 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Brandy Brown went 3-for-3 and drove in a pair. Daniels went 3-for-4 with an RBI for Eastern Kentucky. Costa had two hits in four at bats, scored twice and drove in two.

In the second game, it was the Colonels that jumped out in front first. With a runner at second, Raquel Howes legged out a slow roller for an infield single and Gallagher motored home for a 1-0 EKU lead. A two-out double by Howes in the bottom of the third drove in Daniels for a 2-0 lead.

A lead-off triple by Costa, her third of the day, followed by a single to right for DeAnn Horswill allowed Eastern to add another run to its total. After a ground out, Daniels ripped a double down the right field line to push the lead to 4-0. Daniels capped the inning by scoring from third on a wild pitch.

A two-out, two-run single up the middle by Lauren Nacke in the top of the fifth cut the Dayton deficit to 5-2. However, the Flyers never got any closer.

Eastern junior Stacye Toups (6-3) was solid in the circle. She allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings of work. Costa went 3-for-3 in game two with a run scored. In both games combined, the freshman was 5-for-7 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Daniels finished game two 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Howes went 2-for-4 with three RBIs.

With her stolen base in the sixth inning, her second of the game, Gallagher tied the school single-season record. She needs one more to break Chanze Patterson’s program record of 31 stolen bases set in 2006.

The Colonels will conclude a stretch of seven home games in five days on Tuesday when Miami (Ohio) visits Gertrude Hood Field for a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.