ASHLAND, Va. – On Saturday afternoon the Bridgewater Eagles softball team dropped a pair of close contests in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) doubleheader at Randolph-Macon. Bridgewater fell in the opener by a 2-1 score before dropping the nightcap by a 3-2 tally.

In the first game, Bridgewater (18-12, 8-6 ODAC) got on the board first but couldn't hold the Yellow Jackets off in a 2-1 loss.

Following a scoreless first inning, the Eagles put a run up in the top of the second to take a 1-0 lead. Senior Aven Thomas lifted a pitch over the center field fence for her team-leading sixth homer of the season to hand the Eagles a one-run lead.

Randolph-Macon (27-6, 10-4 ODAC) responded immediately in the bottom part of the inning to tie the game up, 1-1, which is how it would stay for the next two-and-a-half frames. Freshman Jenna Best led off the inning with a single through the right side and was driven in later in the inning on an Amanda Sopko single to left to knot the game up at a 1-1 tally through two complete.

Bridgewater had opportunities in the middle innings, but stranded runners in the third, fourth and fifth as the game held at a 1-1 deadlock through four-and-a-half.  

In the bottom of the fifth, the Yellow Jackets used a one-out triple from Christa Simon to put a runner in scoring position before a Sharese Jarvis single pushed in Simon for the go-ahead run.

Bridgewater went down in order over the final two innings as the Yellow Jackets defeated the Eagles by a 2-1 tally in the opener.

Thomas led the Bridgewater offense with a 2-for-3 game at the plate. Bridgewater manufactured just five hits in the loss.

Senior Heather Jenkins allowed just two runs on seven hits across six innings of work to pick up her fourth loss of the season.

Simon and Best each tallied two hit games for the Yellow Jackets in the win while Heather Lewis recorded the victory after allowing just one run on five hits in a complete-game effort.

Randolph-Macon got back on the board in a hurry in the nightcap with a single run in the first.

Sopko reached on an error to open the inning and stole second to put a runner in scoring position. Simon singled to center but a good throw from freshman Haley Lloyd in center field put Sopko away at third base to retire the lead runner. Following a Jarvis fielder's choice and a wild pitch, Madison Gilman belted a single to right, scoring Jarvis in the process to put the Yellow Jackets in front, 1-0.

Bridgewater wasted little time in taking the lead in the top of the second after back-to-back groundouts put the Eagles in an early pinch. Junior Brea Hinegardner responded with a solo shot to left field to tie the game up before senior Leigh Lam drilled a pitch to left for back-to-back home runs and a 2-1 Bridgewater lead.

Randolph-Macon tagged a run on the board in the third to tie the game up, 2-2, which is how things would remain until the seventh.

After the back-to-back homers, the Eagles went down in order over the remainder of the game before the Yellow Jackets earned the win in dramatic fashion in the seventh.

Lauren Nanny led off the inning with a walk and the Yellow Jackets replaced her on the base paths with Jessica Matthews. Matthews was pushed to second on a sacrifice bunt before an infield pop-up put away the second batter of the inning. Matthews proceeded to swipe third base and was pushed home on a Jarvis single to center to hand the Yellow Jackets a 3-2 win in the finale.

Hinegardner and Lam led the way with a pair of homers in the second game and accounted for the lone Bridgewater hits in the contest.

Thomas was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs on seven hits across 6 and 1/3 innings of action.

Gilman's 2-for-2 effort led the way for the Randolph-Macon offense. The Yellow Jackets pounded out seven hits in the win.

Kristen Dize allowed two runs on two hits and struck out five to earn her 10^th win of the year in complete game fashion.

Bridgewater will look to get back on track on Sunday when it travels to Virginia Wesleyan for a twinbill with the Marlins. Start time in game one against the Marlins is set for 1 p.m.