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PURCHASE GAME ONE DVD
PURCHASE GAME TWO DVD
BRIDGEWATER, Va. – After dropping the opener by a 1-0 score, the Bridgewater Eagles softball team exploded for five runs in the nightcap to salvage a split on Thursday evening in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) doubleheader with the 12th-ranked Roanoke Maroons.
Bridgewater (19-15, 9-9 ODAC) dropped a tough 1-0 decision in the opener before storming back for a 5-2 win in the second game. The win for the Eagles in game two snapped a seven-game skid.
Both teams had opportunities to take an early lead in the opener but the game remained tied through six innings of play as the defending ODAC Pitcher of the Year, Kelly Higbie, and Bridgewater's Heather Jenkins locked up in a classic pitchers' duel.
Roanoke (28-7, 14-2 ODAC) left a runner in scoring position in the top of the first, while Bridgewater left runners on the corners in the home half of the first as the game remained at a scoreless deadlock through one.
In the middle innings, both pitchers settled in and stymied the opposing batters as the game remained scoreless after six.
Roanoke's Stephanie Clark got things going for the Maroons in the sixth with a one-out single before being moved into scoring position on a Higbie ground out. Alexis Roop followed with a double to left field, driving in Clark to hand the Maroons a 1-0 lead.
Bridgewater went down in order in the seventh as Roanoke took the opener by a 1-0 tally.
The lone Bridgewater hit in game one came from the bat of freshman Brooke Throckmorton on a double in the first inning.
Jenkins was tagged with the loss after allowing one run on four hits and fanning nine Roanoke batters in a complete-game effort.
Second baseman Caitlin Manuel went 2-for-3 to lead the Maroons bats in the first game, while Roop's double plated the lone run of the contest. Higbie earned her 14th win of the year with a complete-game, one-hit shutout of the Eagles.
Roanoke got on the board first in the nightcap with a single run before the Eagles answered right back with a run off of Higbie in the bottom of the frame to tie the game up, 1-1.
Junior Kasey Anderson singled to first base and swiped second before being pushed home on a Throckmorton double down the left field line as the Eagles tied the game up at a 1-1 tally. Bridgewater proceeded to load the bases in the first, but left the sacks full as the game went to the second at a 1-1 deadlock.
Following a scoreless second, Bridgewater added a run in the third off of a solo homer to center field from the bat of Melanie Lamb as the Eagles took a 2-1 lead into the middle innings.
Freshman Brianna Cox stifled the Roanoke bats in the fourth, putting the Maroons down in order before the Eagles exploded in a big way in the bottom of the inning.
Senior Leigh Lam drilled a one-out triple to right field before a strikeout from Sarah Goodman looked to allow Higbie and the Maroons to work their way out of the inning unscathed. Freshman Haley Lloyd drilled the first pitch she saw off of the glove of Higbie, for an infield single, scoring Lam in the process to build a 3-1 Bridgewater lead. Anderson followed with a line-shot triple to the wall in left, pushing in Lloyd all the way from first to put the Eagles out in front, 4-1, forcing a pitching change for the Maroons.
Anderson scored on a wild pitch from new pitcher Ashley Crouch to put the Eagles up 5-1 after four complete.
Roanoke answered in the top of the fifth after Rhea Schleicher reached on a fielding error and was plated on a Leona Rainey triple to left to cut the Bridgewater lead to 5-2. Cox struck out the next batter and rolled a groundout to third to get out of the inning with a three-run advantage.
Both teams had limited opportunities in the final two innings, but neither team could plate a run as Bridgewater took down Roanoke by a 5-2 tally. The loss for the Maroons was just their second of the season in conference play.
Anderson led the Bridgewater offense in the nightcap with a 2-for-3 effort with two runs scored and one RBI as the Eagles tallied six hits in the win.
Cox picked up the win in the circle, allowing two Roanoke runs on seven hits in a complete-game performance. The freshman also fanned five to pick up her third victory of the year.
Rainey, Hollee Warlitner and Manuel each tallied two-hit games for Roanoke in the loss with Rainey and Warlitner each driving in a run.
Higbie was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs on six hits across 3 and 2/3 innings of work. Crouch tossed the final 2 and 1/3 and didn't surrender a hit.
Bridgewater is back in action on Saturday on the road at York (Pa.) Start time in game one against the Spartans is set for 2 p.m.
