Emory & Henry Defeats Randolph-Macon, 8-0
Wasps Face EMU for Spot in Lower Semis
April 21, 2007  -  Box Score

SALEM, Va. --- Emory & Henry College (22-20) broke open a four-inning scoreless deadlock with a pair of runs in the fifth and five more in the sixth on the way to an 8-0 victory over Randolph-Macon College (21-14) on the second day of the 2007 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Softball Championships.  The Wasps will face Eastern Mennonite University (25-13) in the lower bracket quarterfinals for a chance to face Bridgewater College (35-5) in the semifinals.

RMC hurler Courtney Brooks and her E&H counterpart, Shannon Harris, kept the offenses guessing through four innings of play.  The Wasps put a chink in Brooks’ armor in the fifth inning, pushing two runs across the dish.  Laken Price and Raegen Clarke opened the frame with a pair of singles, and were moved over to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Jaime Roy.  Ashley Fitzgibbons followed with a single through the left side to bring around Price for a 1-0 lead.  Dana Dettmar followed Fitgibbons’ effort with a sacrifice fly to left to plate Clarke.

Harris didn’t want her offense to cool, as she went through the Jackets 1-2-3 in the bottom half of the inning to maintain the Wasps’ momentum.

Tiffany Caylor and Shannon Pharis started E&H’s five-run sixth with a single and double to put runners on second an third.  Meaghan Funk sacrificed Caylor home for the first run, which was answered by a pitching change from Randolph-Macon.

New Macon hurler Christi Wise wasn’t able to silence the Wasps’ bats as she surrendered two runs on four hits in an inning and a third of work.  Price and Clarke singled to bring Laura Hudson around, Roy singled to left center to bring in Funk and Price.  After Wise fanned Fitzgibbons for the first out, Dettmar singled to center forcing a second RMC pitching change.

The Jackets’ Becky Clark induced an inning-ending double play on her first batter face.  She got Robin Phelps to hit a soft-liner to shortstop Shannon Long, who doubled Roy off the third.

Caylor came around to score the final run of the game in the top of the seventh.  She singled and stole second to start the inning, and advanced around the bases on a pair of grounds, the latter coming from Funk to drive in the Wasps’ eighth run.

Harris earned the win for Emory & Henry, improving to 12-10 on the season.  She surrendered only three hits and walked one while striking out seven batters in five innings of work.  Brooks took the loss for RMC, dropping to 11-6 on the year.