NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Emory & Henry College Softball Team (8-1) ran its win streak to eight games with a pair of wins Monday in the Fastpitch Dreams Spring Classic at the North Myrtle Beach Park & Sports Complex. The Wasps defeated the Mavericks of Medaille College, 10-2, in five innings to start things off and completed the day's sweep with a 3-0 win over the Ohio Valley College Fighting Scots.
Emory & Henry 10, Medaille 2 (five innings)
E&H jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first thanks in part to a two-run single up the middle by senior second baseman Martha Fluharty (Halifax, N.C.).
Medaille got on the board in the top of the second. After Kiera Diana led off the frame with a single to right field, she was driven home by back-to-back groundouts for the 4-1 margin.
The Wasps added two runs in the bottom of the second, highlighted by a triple to right centerfield by sophomore right fielder Hannah Bays (Abingdon, Va.).
Emory & Henry got three more runs in the bottom of the third to go up 9-1. With the bases loaded, freshman catcher Jordan Chrisley (Dublin, Va.) drove in a pair with a single down the left field line. Bays got her second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
In the top of the fourth, the Mavericks got within seven (9-2) to remove the Eight-Run Advantage Rule from play. With two outs, Diana singled down the right field line and ended up on second base. A single on the next at bat by Nicole Gulisano drove her home for her second run of the day.
E&H found itself in need of one run in the bottom of the fifth to end the game early via the Eight-Run Advantage Rule. Freshman catcher Brittany Scott (Bluff City, Tenn.) singled down the left field line to lead things off and stole second with one out. Freshman right fielder Shelby Wray (Boones Mill, Va.) got a single to advance Scott to third on the next at bat and freshman second baseman Alison Hughs (Woodlawn, Tenn.) drove her home with an infield hit.
The Wasps pounded out 15 hits on the day and four players had multi-hit games before being substituted. Fluharty was two-for-three with three RBI while Chrisley drove in a pair on two hits. Freshman shortstop Riley Pudney (Beech Mountain, N.C.) had two hits and scored two runs while freshman third baseman Ragan Halsey (Hillsville, Va.) had two hits as well. Junior pitcher Katie Grimm (Staunton, Va.) went the distance to move to 1-0 on the year, allowing just four hits in the game.
Diana had two hits and both of Medaille's runs while Gulisano drove in a run and notched a hit. In the circle, Gulisano allowed 10 runs on 15 hits, striking out two.
Emory & Henry 3, Ohio Valley 0
E&H picked up a shutout against NCAA Division II program Ohio Valley to complete the day's work. The only runs in the game were scored in the top of the third inning.
Chrisley tripled to centerfield to lead off the top of the third and was driven home on the next at bat by Pudney on a suicide squeeze. Later in the inning, with two on and two outs Halsey tripled to right field to plate Fluharty and Pudney and complete the scoring for the day.
Ohio Valley got a pair of base runners with no outs in the bottom of the third, but sophomore pitcher Taylor Banner (Castlewood, Va.) proceeded to strike out the next three batters to get out of the jam.
Neither team was able to get more than one aboard for the rest of the game as the Wasps grinded out the victory.
Chrisley and Fluharty added another two hits in the game while Halsey came up big with the two-RBI triple. Banner went the distance to pick up the win on her birthday, moving to 4-0 on the year. She struck out six with just four hits for her second-straight shutout.
Danielle Dunnagan was two-for-three to lead the Fighting Scots at the plate. Kristine Brown allowed three runs on seven hits with three strikeouts but suffered the loss.
Emory & Henry will play one game on Tuesday, facing off against Ursuline College at 1:30 p.m.
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