CAPE CORAL, Fla. – The Emory & Henry College Softball Team (2-0) kicked off the 2015 season with a pair of wins in the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic on Monday. The Wasps defeated the Colonels of Curry College, 4-1, to start the day and claimed a 6-0 win over the Bethany Lutheran College Vikings in the second game of the day.
Emory & Henry 4, Curry 1
The Colonels got on the board in the top of the second. Ariel LaRosa led off the frame with a single to right field and ended up on third base after an error. Mikayla Lambert then singled up the middle on the next at bat to drive in LaRosa.
E&H responded with a run in the bottom of the second. With two runners on and two outs, sophomore catcher Jordan Chrisley (Dublin, Va.) singled to right centerfield to tie the game, 1-1.
In the bottom of the third, the Wasps added two more runs for a 3-1 advantage. Junior left fielder Hannah Bays (Abingdon, Va.) and senior designated player Roxanne Hillman (Clintwood, Va.) both had RBI base hits in the frame.
Emory & Henry added an insurance run in the sixth for the final 4-1 margin as sophomore Shelby Wray (Boones Mill, Va.) singled to drive in freshman Danielle Loving (Elizabethton, Tenn.) who started things off with a pinch-hit single.
Senior right-hander Brandy Bryant (Salem, Va.) picked up the complete game victory, scattering one unearned run and six hits over seven innings of work with five strikeouts. Chrisley had three hits in the contest. Taylor Ahern suffered the loss for the Colonels despite striking out seven batters.
Emory & Henry 6, Bethany Lutheran 0
Emory & Henry got a pair of single runs in the second and third innings to take a 2-0 lead. Hillman had a RBI single to get things going in the second while freshman catcher Bailey Williams (Wilmington, N.C.) came home on a throwing error by the second baseman after doubling to right field to lead off the third.
The Wasps added three runs in the fifth. With two runners on and one out, freshman third baseman Caley Hodge (Elizabethton, Tenn.) hit a towering home run to left field to make the score 5-0.
E&H got its final run in the seventh when a fielder's choice by sophomore outfielder Brittany Scott (Elizabethton, Tenn.) drove in senior Katie Grimm (Staunton, Va.) who pinch hit earlier in the frame.
Hillman earned the shutout win, striking out 11 batters and allowing only two hits. It was the first time since the 2012 season that an Emory & Henry pitcher has fanned more than 10 batters. Hillman helped her cause with two hits and a RBI as well. Anna Pipenhagen had 11 strikeouts as well but suffered the loss for the Vikings.
Emory & Henry will be back in action at the Gene Cusic Classic on Tuesday with two more games. The Wasps will take on the University of Minnesota-Morris at 9:00 a.m., and Dominican (Ill.) University at 1:00 p.m.
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-photo courtesy of Joe Matthews