FERRUM, Va. – The Emory & Henry College Softball Team (21-5) achieved its second-straight 20-win season with a doubleheader sweep of Ferrum College (20-12) Thursday evening in non-conference action. The Wasps won by scores of 12-7 and 7-3 to earn their first-ever sweep of the Panthers.
Game One – Emory & Henry 12, Ferrum 7
Emory & Henry got out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first but Ferrum answered with a run in its half of the second to tie the contest, 1-1. The Panthers went up 4-1 thanks to a three-run third, taking advantage of three hits, a walk and an error in the frame.
In the top of the fourth the Wasps swarmed back with six runs to lead 7-4. Freshman centerfielder Leah Elswick (Raven, Va.) got things going with a doubled to right field and two batters later freshman third baseman Caley Hodge (Elizabethton, Tenn.) cleared the bases with a three-run homer to right centerfield. Freshman right fielder Danielle Loving (Elizabethton, Tenn.) tagged her first collegiate round-tripper later in the frame to add two more runs.
A two-run home run by Ferrum's Emily Nelson in the fourth closed the gap to 7-6.
Loving made it two home runs in the game with another blast in the sixth, this one a three-run shot to left centerfield to push the margin to 10-6. Emory & Henry put two more runs across in the top of the seventh, as sophomore catcher Jordan Chrisley (Dublin, Va.) had a RBI double and was driven home two batters later by a sacrifice fly by sophomore second baseman Riley Pudney (Beech Mountain, N.C.).
Ferrum added a final run on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh to make the final score 12-7.
Loving led Emory & Henry with a four-for-four outing with six RBI and two runs scored. Hodge drove in three runs on her two hits while Chrisley and junior left fielder Hannah Bays (Abingdon, Va.) each had a pair of base knocks. Senior Roxanne Hillman (Clintwood, Va.) earned the win, scattering three earned runs over four innings of work with a strikeout. Senior Brandy Bryant (Salem, Va.) pitched three innings in relief to earn the save.
The Panthers' Aiyana Lew had two hits, and three RBI while Kylene Culler and Mika Smith added two hits of their own. Lew also did the majority of the work in the circle, allowing nine runs on 14 hits in 6.2 innings pitched.
Game Two – Emory & Henry 7, Ferrum 3
The Wasps jumped on the Panthers with two runs in the top of the first. Singles to centerfield and shortstop by Hodge and Loving, respectively, put E&H ahead in the contest.
In the top of the third, Hodge tagged another RBI single to put Emory & Henry up 3-0 and pushed the margin to 4-0 in the fifth with a third RBI base hit.
Extra-base hits by freshman catcher Bailey Williams (Wilmington, N.C.) and junior pitcher Taylor Banner (Castlewood, Va.) in the sixth gave the Wasps a 6-0 advantage.
Ferrum spoiled the shutout with three unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth. A two-run single by Lew highlighted the frame.
Emory & Henry made the final score 7-3 in the seventh when Hodge scored on a throwing error by the first baseman after a groundout.
Hodge led the Wasps' offense in the nightcap, going three-for-four with two runs and three RBI. Pudney, Loving and Banner each had two base hits while Pudney also scored twice. Banner picked up the complete-game win in the circle, allowing three unearned runs on seven hits.
Ferrum's Heather Mayberry had two hits in the game while Lew drove in a pair on her base hit. Amanda Roberts suffered the loss, allowing four earned runs on 12 hits with three strikeouts.
Emory & Henry will return home on Saturday for an Old Dominion Athletic Conference doubleheader with No. 7 Virginia Wesleyan College. First pitch between the Wasps and Marlins is set for 1:00 p.m.
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