LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Softball Team (19-5, 9-5 ODAC) split an Old Dominion Athletic Conference doubleheader with Randolph College (13-15, 6-10 ODAC) Wednesday evening at the Randolph Softball Field. The WildCats claimed game one by a 4-2 score while the Wasps won the nightcap, 8-4, in a shortened contest that was called due to darkness and featured a 90-minute rain delay.
Game One – Randolph 4, Emory & Henry 2
The Wasps got out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. With one out and runners on second and third, junior first baseman Taylor Doss (Damascus, Va.) drove in one with a groundout. Freshman right fielder Danielle Loving (Elizabethton, Tenn.) plated high school teammate freshman third baseman Caley Hodge (Elizabethton, Tenn.) with a single to left field on the next at bat.
Randolph took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. The WildCats tied things up at two runs apiece when Hannah Winfree singled to right centerfield, plating two. Patti Vinson gave RC the 4-2 winning margin on the next at bat with a home run to left centerfield.
E&H got runners on base in both the sixth and seventh innings, but could not cut into the Randolph lead.
Hunter Glavé and Dianne Davis each had two hits in the game while Winfree and Vinson drove in a pair with their base hits. Winfree also picked up the win, scattering two runs and five hits over the complete game with eight strikeouts.
Doss and Loving each had RBI base hits while Hodge added a hit and a run. Senior right-hander Brandy Bryant (Salem, Va.) took the loss, allowing four runs on seven hits with two strikeouts.
Game Two – Emory & Henry 8, Randolph 4 (five innings)
Randolph got on the board in the bottom of the first on a double to left field by Glavé which plated Jessica Nowak, who doubled one batter earlier.
The game was delayed for nearly 90 minutes at the end of the second due to heavy rain in the area.
After the contest was resumed, the Wasps tied things up in the fourth. After Loving drew a two-out walk, sophomore designated player Holly Eckard (Ringgold, Va.) doubled to left field, scoring Loving from first base.
The WildCats went back ahead, 2-1, in the bottom of the fourth on a single by Vinson.
Emory & Henry's offense exploded in the fifth inning, scoring seven two-out runs to make the score 8-2. Sophomore second baseman Riley Pudney (Beech Mountain, N.C.) started things off with a two-run home run on an 0-2 count. Hodge made it back-to-back round-trippers to push the score to 4-2. The Wasps got four more runs in the frame on eight hits, capped off by a two-run single up the middle by freshman catcher Bailey Williams (Wilmington, N.C.).
In the bottom of the fifth, the E&H defense got two quick outs before Randolph settled in to start a rally. Glavé marked her second RBI base hit of the game while Gracyn Allen-Ingle drove in Nowak on the last play of the game before Glavé was thrown out at the plate.
The game was called, 8-4 in favor of the Wasps, due to darkness following the end of the fifth at 7:54 p.m., official sunset having occurred nine minutes earlier.
Hodge, Loving and Eckard each pounded out two base hits and added a RBI. Loving scored twice in the game while Pudney and Williams drove in a pair of runs on their hits. Junior Taylor Banner (Castlewood, Va.) earned the win, allowing four runs on seven hits with two strikeouts to move to 4-1 on the year.
Randolph was led at the plate by Glavé with two hits and two RBI while Nowak had two hits and scored two runs. Lauren Morris took the loss, allowing three runs on five hits with two strikeouts in 4.2 innings pitched.
Emory & Henry will return to the diamond on Thursday evening when it travels to Ferrum College for a non-conference doubleheader. First pitch is set for 5:00 p.m.
---E&H---