WINCHESTER, Va. – After blowing open the first game with a seven-run sixth inning en route to a 7-1 win, the Bridgewater Eagles softball team was silenced at the plate and committed six errors in the nightcap in a 5-1 loss to settle for a doubleheader split on Tuesday evening at Shenandoah.

Shenandoah led off the opener with a Brittany Guepe single and Guepe swiped second base to put an early runner in scoring position. Guepe moved to third on a ground out and later scored on a Lindsay Corbin ground out to put the Hornets up, 1-0.

Both teams were stymied at the plate over the next four innings as the Hornets scattered the lone hit during the stretch and owned a 1-0 lead after five complete.

Karie Burgess led off the sixth with a single prior to Jen Balcom getting hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second with no outs. Senior Kasey Anderson walked to load the bases and Lauren Jenkins belted a single to score Burgess, tying the game up at a run each. Freshman Samantha Fridley followed by drawing a bases-loaded walk to push home the go-ahead run. Starting pitcher Brianna Cox followed with another bases-loaded walk to take a 3-1 lead.

Two batters later, freshman Haley Harris ripped a run-scoring single to center to score Jenkins before fellow freshman Samantha Bird kept things going with a two-RBI single to build a 6-1 advantage. Burgess drove in the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to right field which scored Harris to hand the Eagles a commanding 7-1 lead. Bridgewater batted through the lineup in the top of the sixth.

Over the final one and a half innings, Jenkins, who entered in the circle in the sixth, allowed just one base runner on a walk as the Eagles cruised to a 7-1 win in the opener.

Jenkins led the offense with a 2-for-4 game, while Bird drove in a game-high two runs in the victory.

Cox secured the win after allowing one run on just two hits over five innings of work. The Bumpass, Va. native fanned a career-high seven batters on the evening. 

Guepe tallied two hits to lead the Hornets and was the lone Shenandoah player with a hit in the opener.

Corbin was tagged with the loss after allowing seven runs over 5 and 1/3 innings of action.

Bridgewater (13-5-1, 5-3-1 ODAC) was less-than-stellar in the field in the nightcap, committing six errors in a 5-1 loss to the Hornets.

Anderson reached on an error in the second game and swiped second to put the lead-off runner in scoring position. Later in the inning, Anderson scored on a Fridley sacrifice fly to right to put the Eagles out in front, 1-0.

Guepe scored on a Corbin single to left to tie the game up after the first inning of play.

Shenandoah (2-14, 0-5 ODAC) later added two runs in the third on the heels of a pair of Bridgewater miscues and tallied two more runs in the fifth while Lisa Mitro thwarted the Eagles at the plate in a 5-1 victory for the Hornets.

Jenkins, Burgess and Balcom each scattered a hit for the Eagles in the loss. Amanda Lutz was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs, one earned, over four innings of action. Harris replaced Lutz in the fifth and tossed two no-hit innings, but allowed a run due to a fielding error.

Five players tallied a hit each for Shenandoah while Mitro secured the win after allowing one unearned run on three hits.

Bridgewater returns to action on Thursday with a non-conference doubleheader against 15^th-ranked Christopher Newport. First pitch against the Captains is set for 3 p.m.