ASHLAND, Va. – The Randolph-Macon College Softball Team (28-10, 11-5 ODAC) picked up a pair of Old Dominion Athletic Conference wins over visiting Emory & Henry College (13-25, 5-11 ODAC) Sunday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets took game one by a 3-1 score and won game two, 9-1.
Game One – Randolph-Macon 3, Emory & Henry 1
After three and a half scoreless innings to start the game, RMC got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs and runners on second and third, Skylar Toth reached on an error by the pitcher allowing both runners to score.
Emory & Henry cut the margin to 2-1 in the top of the fifth. Senior pitcher Taylor Banner (Castlewood, Va.) reached on an error by the centerfielder and sophomore left fielder Danielle Loving (Elizabethton, Tenn.) was able to score from second base.
The Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 3-1 when Harley Jones led off the bottom of the sixth with a home run to left centerfield.
Jones led the way with two runs and a RBI on her two hits while Nelda Bagley earned the complete-game win allowing just one unearned run on two hits with five strikeouts.
Loving and senior right fielder Hannah Bays (Abingdon, Va.) had the Wasps' two hits while Bays also drew a walk. Sophomore designated player Caley Hodge (Elizabethton, Tenn.) also reached twice via a free pass. Banner suffered the loss, allowing three runs on six hits in 5.2 innings of work.
Game Two – Randolph-Macon 9, Emory & Henry 1 (six innings)
E&H scored its only run of the game in the top of the second. Loving tagged her fourth home run of the year, this one a solo shot to left field with one out.
The Yellow Jackets responded with three runs in the bottom of the second as Dianne McDaniel hit a three-run homer with two outs to make the score 3-1. Randolph-Macon added three more to its tally in the third, highlighted by a two-run base single by Jones.
Up by the 6-1 score with two runners on and one out in the bottom of the sixth, Sierra Ford hit a three-run homer to left field, putting RMC up by the required eight runs to end the game early.
Madison Gilman went three-for-four with two runs scored while Jones added a run and two RBI on a pair of hits and Ford drove in three with her home run. Candace Whittemore struck out six as she allowed one run on five hits in the complete-game victory.
Freshman outfielder Erin Anderson (Aylett, Va.) had two hits for the Wasps while Loving made the most of her base hit for the only run of the game. Hodge and sophomore catcher Bailey Williams (Wilmington, N.C.) also had base knocks. Junior Riley Pudney (Beech Mountain, N.C.) allowed six runs on five hits in two-plus innings of work as she suffered the loss.
Emory & Henry will complete the regular season on Saturday when it hosts Shenandoah University in a key ODAC doubleheader. With a victory over the Hornets, the Wasps will solidify a spot in the ODAC Tournament. The contests which will also serve as Senior Day for E&H, are set to begin at noon.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15