Bridgewater, Roanoke Win Two on Day One
ODAC Tournament Features Mixed Play thru First Eight Games
SALEM, Va. --- Bridgewater College and Roanoke
College each won a pair of games on Friday at the James I. Moyer
Sports Complex, setting up a matchup between the two for a spot in
the conference title game at the 2012 ODAC Softball
Tournament. The Eagles are the fifth seed and the
Maroons’ occupy the second slot in the tournament’s
original field of eight.
Eight games in total were played on the event’s first day
with six teams making it to the weekend in the tourney’s
double-elimination format. While BC and RC went undefeated in
their first two outings, #4 Lynchburg College and #7 Randolph
College were the first squads eliminated from further competition
after each dropped their first two ballgames.
Top-seeded Virginia Wesleyan College and #6 Eastern Mennonite
University each won their opening games, but both were on the wrong
side of the final score in their respective second contests.
They join #3 Randolph-Macon College and #8 Emory & Henry
College with 1-1 records in the lower half of the bracket.
After losing their first games, the Yellow Jackets and Wasps must
string together six straight victories if either is to hoist the
league’s championship trophy.
Below are brief snapshots of each of Friday’s
showdowns. For more information, visit the websites of any of
the participating schools, or go to the ODAC’s tournament
website at www.odaconline.com/tournament/spring/softball.
Game 1: #1 Virginia Wesleyan def. #8 Emory & Henry, 1-0 --- Box
Score
VWC’s Kristina Karagiorgis and E&H’s
Brandy Bryant locked horns in a pitcher’s duel as it took
until the Marlins’ final at-bat for game’s first and
only run to light up the scoreboard. After Season Dailey
motored all the way to third with a two-out triple, Brenae Pettit
delivered a shallow fly ball to right-center that fell for the
game-winning hit. Karagiorgis fanned 10 and gave up just four
hits in improving to 15-3. Bryant issued four free passes in
addition to allowing five hits, but she worked around the
baserunners thanks in part to six punch-outs in falling to 4-7.
Game 2: #5 Bridgewater def. #4 Lynchburg, 5-3 --- Box
Score
Bridgewater took a 5-0 lead into the seventh inning and
held on for the victory in a contest that featured only six
combined hits. Both teams took advantage of miscues by their
opponent, with BC striking first on a two-run homer by Leigh Lam in
the second inning. After tacking on one more in the fourth
frame, the Eagles made good on a pair of LC errors with two runs in
the sixth inning. The Hornets returned the favor in the top
of the seventh as they crossed the dish three times thanks in part
to two BC mistakes before Heather Jenkins closed the door on her
first save of the year. Aven Thomas (11-5) picked up the win
after hurling 6.1 innings. Hope Johnson (7-4) tossed all
seven innings for LC.
Game 3: #2 Roanoke def. #7 Randolph, 4-1 --- Box
Score
Roanoke centerfielder Leona Rainey went 3-for-4 and
stole three bases in helping the Maroons top Randolph. RC
jumped on the board quickly with three runs in the bottom of the
first. Two came around on a dropped fly ball while catcher
Felice Lowery delivered the third run with a single. Randolph
got one back in the fifth inning via a Gina Pagano RBI single, but
Roanoke reestablished its three run cushion on a run-scoring single
by pitcher Kelly Higbie. Higbie went the distance for
28th time in improving to 22-8 on the season.
Kristen Hutchinson (4-6) took the loss for Randolph.
Game 4: #6 Eastern Mennonite def. #3 Randolph-Macon, 3-1 --- Box
Score
EMU hurler Lisa Lee and R-MC lefty Heather Lewis
combined for 18 strikeouts as both pitchers limited run-scoring to
just one inning apiece for the opposition. The early
advantage went to Randolph-Macon as Laura Bauer singled in the
Yellow Jackets only run of the game in the first inning.
Eastern Mennonite responded with three tallies in the second stanza
as Taylor Sellars plated a pair with a single and Brooke Hensley
brought in one more with an infield hit to short.
That’s all the cushion Lee would need as she gave up just
three hits and walked three while fanning seven in improving to
11-4. Lewis (13-6) was also impressive as she surrendered
five hits and walked only one while striking out a tourney-high 11
batters.
Game 5: #8 Emory & Henry def. #4 Lynchburg, 9-5 --- Box
Score
Emory & Henry stunned Lynchburg with seven runs in the
bottom of the sixth inning to erase a 5-2 deficit and eliminate the
Hornets from further play in the ODAC Softball Tournament.
The Wasps took advantage of a pair of errors with timely hitting in
the decisive inning as they smacked seven hits, all singles, on the
way to posting the largest single-inning output of the tournament
so far. Five Wasps finished with two hits apiece, including
shortstop Jenae Morrissey, who also collected to RBI. LC
shortstop Taylor Walker and designated player Amber Sulter each had
three hits. Brandy Bryant (5-7) evened her tournament record
at 1-1 with the win.
Game 6: #3 Randolph-Macon def. #7 Randolph, 6-4 (8 innings) --- Box
Score
Late inning heroics abound in the first game of the
tournament featuring bonus action. Trailing 4-3 heading into
the seventh, Randolph played small-ball to get itself into scoring
position with runners at first and third. A double steal
plated the tying run for the WildCats as Kaitlin Mills slid in
safely ahead of the return throw to force extra innings.
Randolph-Macon pounced in the top of the eighth, taking advantage
of its tie-breaker runner on second by scoring via a pair of wild
pitches. R-MC tacked on an unneeded insurance run when
Michalann Camp singled in Amanda Sopko. Heather Lewis (14-6)
tossed all eight innings for R-MC as she hurled all 15 frames
through the Jackets’ first two games. With the loss,
Randolph is eliminated from further play in the tournament.
Game 7: #5 Bridgewater def. #1 Virginia Wesleyan, 7-4 --- Box
Score
Bridgewater was the first team to earn a spot in the
winner’s bracket semifinal when pitcher Heather Jenkins
belted the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the seventh off the
top of the left-center field fence and over for a three-run
walk-off homer. That all came after VWC knotted the game at
4-all in the top of the seventh on a RBI double by Tori
Higginbotham, who later came around to score on a wild pitch on
ball four to Kelly Keys. Jenkins improved to 16-5 in
scattering eight hits and pair of free passes in seven
innings. MacKenzie Creech (10-5) fanned six in the loss.
Game 8: #2 Roanoke def. #6 Eastern Mennonite, 7-5 --- Box Score
Roanoke scored at least one run in all but two innings as
eight Maroons had at least one hit in joining Bridgewater in the
winner’s bracket semifinal. RC put up three in the
first inning and one each in the third and fourth frames to open up
a 5-0 lead. EMU responded with a 5-run third inning
highlighted by Jordan Aylor’s three-run bomb to left-center
to knot the game at 5-all. Roanoke went up for good on a RBI
double by Felice Lowery in the fifth inning, and tacked on one more
for good measure in the seventh on a single by Katherine
Kouri. Stephanie Clark (4-1), who hit a solo shot in the
third inning, threw four scoreless innings of relief to earn the
win.
