SALEM, Va. – The Lynchburg College Softball Team (29-12) advanced in the winner's bracket of the 2014 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament with a 7-2 win over Emory & Henry College (23-14) Friday evening at the James I. Moyer Sports Complex. The contest began at 7:30 p.m., five and a half hours later than scheduled thanks to rain and lightning in the Roanoke Valley.
Lynchburg got on the board in the bottom of the first inning with four runs. Kayla St. John got things started with a sacrifice fly, plating Nicole Riley. Later in the inning, Amber Ingram tagged a three-run shot to right centerfield to make the score 4-0.
The Hornets added a run in the bottom of the second when Melanie Tenney reach eon a fielder's choice, driving in Nicole Shipp, who drew a one-out walk to get things started for a 5-0 lead.
Emory & Henry got two runs back in the top of the fifth. With senior left fielder Cortney Halsey (Independence, Va.) on second base after a single and a stolen base, junior designated player Roxanne Hillman (Clintwood, Va.) belted her first home run of the season to draw the score to 5-2.
In the bottom of the sixth, LC added a pair of runs to push the margin back to five. Tenney got her second sacrifice fly of the game, driving in Shipp while Danielle Powell hit a single up the middle for the other score.
The Wasps got a pair of baserunners in the top of the seventh with no outs, but a game-ending double play put the brakes on any kind of rally.
Hall went three-for-four at the plate with a run scored to lead the Hornets while Powell had two hits in the game. Ingram drove in three runs with her home run while Tenney had two RBI on one hit and a run scored. Ingram picked up the complete-game win in the circle as well, scattering two runs on seven hits with six strikeouts.
Emory & Henry was paced by Hillman, who was two-for-four with a run scored and two RBI. Sophomore Hannah Bays (Abingdon, Va.) had two hits and made a trio of impressive plays in right field. Sophomore Taylor Banner (Castlewood, Va.) suffered the loss, allowing five runs on five hits in two innings of work.
The Wasps will face off against the WildCats of Randolph College on Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m., in an elimination game. The winner of tomorrow morning's contest will play the loser of Virginia Wesleyan College and Randolph-Macon College at 3:30 p.m.
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