EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Softball Team (2-6) got a pair of early leads Sunday in day two of the E&H Invitational but was unable to hold on as it fell by a 7-2 score to Case Western Reserve University and 10-8 to Marietta College. CWRU defeated Marietta by a 7-2 score in the other game of the day to go 4-0 on the weekend.
Game One – Case Western Reserve 7, Emory & Henry 2
Emory & Henry scored a pair in the top of the first on a two-run home run by sophomore designated player Caley Hodge (Elizabethton, Tenn.).
CWRU got on the board with a run in the bottom of the third and took the lead 5-2 in the fourth as Alex Favazza drilled a grand slam over the left field fence. The Spartans added insurance runs in the fifth and sixth frames to make the final score 7-2.
Maren Waldner went two for-three with a run scored while Favazza made the most of her one base knock of the game, driving in four runs. Annie Wennerberg picked the win, scattering two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts over a complete game.
Hodge and senior first baseman Taylor Doss (Damascus, Va.) went two for-three with Hodge scoring once and driving in a pair. Senior Taylor Banner (Castlewood, Va.) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on three hits in three innings pitched.
Game Two – Marietta 10, Emory & Henry 8
The Wasps started off with a run in the second on a squeeze play by senior shortstop Alyssa Clark (Hiltons, Va.) which brought home Doss. Emory & Henry made it 4-0 after the fourth as freshman left fielder Erin Anderson (Aylett, Va.) plated a pair with a single to right field. Hodge also had a run-scoring base hit in the inning.
Marietta got its offense started in the top of the fifth with four runs, highlighted by Rebekah Finn's two-run double. The Pioneers took a 6-4 lead in the sixth and extended the margin to 10-4 in the seventh on a grand slam by Kaitlin Klinchock.
Down to its final three outs, Emory & Henry battled in the bottom of the seventh scoring four runs. Senior right fielder Hannah Bays (Abingdon, Va.) drove in a run to get things started while freshman designated player Madison McClanahan (Abingdon, Va.) drilled a three-run home run over the left field wall for her first collegiate round-tripper. That closed the gap to 10-8, but the Wasps were unable to get any closer.
Klinchock went three-for-four with two runs and four RBI while Rachel Montgomery has three hits, two RBI and a run. Jocelyn White earned the win in relief for the Pioneers.
McClanahan went two-for-three with three RBI and a run while junior second baseman Riley Pudney (Beech Mountain, N.C.) was four-for-four in the game. Anderson added three base hits, two RBI and a run while Hodge, Bays and sophomore catcher Bailey Williams (Wilmington, N.C.) chipped in two hits each. Senior left-hander Kaitlyn Pruitt (Abingdon, Va.) took the loss in relief.
Emory & Henry will be back in action on Saturday, March 5 when it hosts Bluefield College in a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15