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Box Score 2 BRIDGEWATER, Va. – In a conference twinbill at the Jopson Softball Field, the Bridgewater Eagles softball team struggled at the plate while the visiting Lynchburg Hornets got just enough offense in both games to roll to a doubleheader sweep of the Eagles on Wednesday afternoon.
The 13th-ranked Hornets took game one by a 5-1 score before coming from behind for a 2-1 win in the nightcap. For the Eagles, the game one loss snapped an eight-game winning streak.
Lynchburg wasted little time in getting on the board in the opener after plating a run in a top of the first. Lead-off hitter Jessi Hall saw 10 pitches before drawing a walk to open the contest. Hall was moved to second on a groundout and reached third on a wild pitch before a Melanie Tenney double to centerfield pushed her home to put the Hornets up, 1-0.
Both teams went down without runs in the second, third and fourth before the Hornets added an insurance run on another Tenney double to take a 2-0 lead after four-and-a-half.
Senior Aven Thomas led off the bottom of the inning with a single but was stranded after Lynchburg pitcher Hope Johnson struck out the next three batters to maintain a 2-0 Lynchburg advantage.
Lynchburg added two more runs in the sixth as the Eagles struggled defensively in the frame and the Hornets extended their lead to 4-0.
In the top of the seventh, the Hornets added a run on a Danielle Powell homer to left field to build a 5-0 lead and put the pressure on the Bridgewater bats.
Bridgewater got things going in the bottom of the seventh with a lead-off double from the bat of Leigh Lam. Lam moved to third on a Brooke Throckmorton single, but Throckmorton was thrown out at second trying to stretch the hit into a double. Thomas followed with an RBI single to push home Lam, but the run was all the Eagles would get as they fell by a 5-1 tally in the opener.
Thomas and junior Brea Hinegardner led the Bridgewater bats in game one with a pair of 2-for-3 efforts.
Starting pitcher Heather Jenkins was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs, including just two earned runs, on eight hits across a complete game effort.
Hall, Tenney and right fielder Amber Ingram each posted two-hit games for the Hornets at the plate with Tenney's two-RBI effort leading the way.
Johnson earned the win in the circle after allowing just one run on six hits across seven innings of work.
In the nightcap it was Bridgewater getting on the board first to grab an early lead.
Thomas, the game two starter, put the Hornets down in order in the first before the Eagles tallied a single run in the bottom of the frame to snag a 1-0 lead.
Following a strikeout to open the frame, freshman Haley Lloyd drilled a single to left field to put a one-out runner on base. Two batters later, Throckmorton drilled a double to the right field gap, scoring Lloyd all the way from first and handing the Eagles a 1-0 advantage.
Bridgewater's 1-0 lead would hold over the next three innings as both pitchers kept the opposing teams in the check with the Eagles hanging on to a one-run lead as the game shifted to the fifth inning.
Lynchburg tallied two runs in the top of the fifth when a Hall double plated pinch hitter Amy Bresson and center fielder Nicole Shipp to put the Hornets out in front by a 2-1 tally.
The Eagles had an opportunity to answer in the bottom of the sixth, but stranded two runners in scoring position as Lynchburg maintained a 2-1 advantage.
Lynchburg left the sacks full in the seventh as relief pitcher Brianna Cox came away from a tough relief effort unscathed to hold the Hornets off of the scoreboard and keep the deficit at one run. Cox replaced Thomas who took a hard liner off of the leg in the early part of the seventh.
The Eagles couldn't plate at run in the final half of the seventh as Lynchburg escaped with a 2-1 win in game two.
Lam led the Eagles at the plate in the nightcap with a 2-for-3 effort as Bridgewater manufactured just five hits in the contest.
Thomas was tagged with the loss after allowing two runs on six hits across six and two-thirds innings of work.
Six different Lynchburg players tallied a hit in the finale, with Hall's two-RBI effort pacing the way.
Elizabeth Fioretti came in for the Hornets in relief in the third and picked up the win after tossing the final four and two-thirds innings of play. Fioretti allowed just two hits in a stellar relief effort.
Bridgewater is back in action on Saturday as it travels to Randolph-Macon for a twinbill. Start time of game one against the Yellow Jackets is set for 1 p.m.
