EMORY, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Softball Team (8-0) continued its unbeaten run to start the 2015 season with a doubleheader sweep of Greensboro College (9-9) Wednesday afternoon at Wasps Field. E&H won game one by a 7-4 score and prevailed in the nightcap by a 7-3 tally.
Game One – Emory & Henry 7, Greensboro 4
Emory & Henry got on the board with one on and two out in the bottom of the first when junior first baseman Taylor Doss (Damascus, Va.) blasted a home run to left centerfield.
The Pride answered with four runs in the third to take a 4-2 lead. Brittainy Rush led things off with a solo home run and Madison Crisco plated a trio of runs with a three-run shot to left field.
E&H had a four-run inning in the fourth to go back ahead. Junior left fielder Hannah Bays (Abingdon, Va.) tagged a two-run homer to left with no outs. Later in the inning, sophomore catcher Jordan Chrisley (Dublin, Va.) and freshman centerfielder Leah Elswick (Raven, Va.) went back-to-back to left centerfield to put the Wasps up 6-4.
Emory & Henry added an insurance run in the sixth as Bays belted another home run to left for the 7-4 final score.
Bays finished the game three-for-three with three RBI and two runs while Chrisley had two hits and two runs and Elswick added two hits. Senior right-hander Brandy Bryant (Salem, Va.) earned the win to go to 3-0, allowing four runs and eight hits with three strikeouts.
Rush had a pair of hits and a RBI while Crisco finished the game one-for-three with her three-run homer. Lauren Miller took the loss, allowing seven runs on nine hits.
Game Two – Emory & Henry 7, Greensboro 3
The Wasps took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first for the second time. Doss had a RBI groundout, plating Chrisley to start things off while Bays drove in Elswick on a single to left field.
E&H added three runs in the third, highlighted by a run-scoring double by Bays, and extended its lead to 7-0 thanks to a pair of RBI singles by Elswick and freshman third baseman Caley Hodge (Elizabethton, Tenn.) in the fourth.
Greensboro broke into the scoring column in the fifth as Crisco came around to score on an error, making the score 7-1. The Pride added two runs in the top of the seventh on Jackie Nicholson's RBI-single to centerfield, but would get no closer than 7-3.
Bays, Doss and Elswick had two hits apiece with Elswick scoring a trio of runs while Bays and Doss drove in a pair each. Junior Taylor Banner (Castlewood, Va.) picked up the win in the circle for the Wasps, striking out two to move to 2-0 on the season.
Nicholson had two hits and two RBI while Sarah Connolly and Allyson Yeager each reached base twice. Dawn Harris took the loss for Greensboro, allowing seven runs on nine hits.
Emory & Henry will next take the field on Thursday afternoon when it travels to face Ferrum College in a non-conference doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled 4:30 p.m.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15