Lynchburg Upsets Roanoke, 5-4
Moves on to Semifinals Against Bridgewater
April 20, 2007  -  Box Score

SALEM, Va.--- The Lynchburg College softball team defeated Roanoke College 5-4 on Friday evening in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference postseason tournament. The game was played at the Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, VA. Lynchburg’s win was its first over the Maroons in ODAC tournament play. The Maroons had won the first eight meetings, including the last two championship games. The loss drops the Maroons (29-8) to the loser’s bracket where they will play Eastern Mennonite at 12:00pm on Saturday in Salem. The Hornets, 31-10 on the year, advance to Saturday’s 2:30pm contest.

The Maroons took advantage of two early walks by the Hornets, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning. With Loren Messick on second and Tamara Poles on first, freshman Kelsey Ruitenberg hit a grounder to second. The Hornet fielder attempted to get Poles at second, but did not reach the bag in time. On contact, Messick broke for third and did not stop, rounded third and scored the first run. The next batter, Erin Ruitenberg, doubled to deep right, scoring Poles from second.

Roanoke’s lead was cut in half in the top of the first. The lead off batter, Tara Campbell reached on a Maroon overthrow to first. After a Lauren Duguay bunt single, both runners moved up a base on a Kirsten Swank sacrifice bunt. The Hornet got their first run of the game on an Audra Della Rosa sacrifice fly to center. The fly ball scored pinch-runner Leslie Bailey.

The Hornets drew even with two outs in the top of the third on a solo homerun by senior Caroline Cubbage.

The Maroons regained the lead in the bottom of the same inning on an Amber Walker sacrifice fly to right. The out was deep enough to score pinch-runner Christina Ramos from third. Ramos was running for Erin Ruitenberg who led off with a walk. Ramos stole second and got to third on a Whitney Purvis sacrifice.

The Maroon lead didn’t last long after the Hornets scored a run in the top of the fourth. With Duguay at second, Kirsten Swank tripled to right field to even the score at three.

The Hornets assumed the lead for the first time after scoring a run in the top of the fifth. Danielle DiFranco led off with a soft grounder to short. With all Maroon fielders charging the hit, DiFranco, who was safe at first, was able to move to second with no Maroons covering the bag. An Elizabeth Perkins groundout to the pitcher later in the inning scored DiFranco to give LC the lead, 4-3. The Hornets added another run in the sixth.