BRIDGEWATER, Va. – In the final midweek home contests of the year, the Bridgewater Eagles softball team exploded for nine runs in the opener en route to a 9-0 victory in five innings before falling in game two by a 5-3 tally in a non-conference split with Southern Virginia.

In game one, the Eagles stuck four runs on the board in the first inning to open up a sizeable lead after the first frame. Karie Burgess ripped a one-out single to right and moved to second on a Lauren Jenkins single as the Eagles had runners at first and second with one away. Both runners moved up on a passed ball and scored on a Samantha Fridley single to right field as the Eagles took a 2-0 lead. Fridley later swiped second and scored on a Berkeley Driskill double to the gap in right to give Bridgewater a 3-0 lead. Driskill rounded out the scoring when she went home on a Brea Hinegardner single to build the Bridgewater advantage to 4-0.

Starting pitcher Brianna Cox put the Knights down in order before the Eagles blew the game open with a five-run second.

Kasey Anderson roped a one-out single and swiped second prior to being chased home on a Jenkins single up the middle to extend the lead to 5-0. Fridley followed with a single to put runners on the corners before a Cox single to left pushed home Jenkins to extend the lead to 6-0. Driskill rounded out the scoring with a three-run blast over the fence in left to hand Bridgewater a 9-0 advantage.

Cox held the Knights down in the third and reliever Haley Harris kept the Knights off the board in the fourth to maintain a 9-0 lead.

Southern Virginia tried to push the game to the sixth as the Knights loaded the bags in the top of the fifth. Harris worked a strikeout to end the game, handing Bridgewater a 9-0 win in five innings.

Fridley and Driskill each went 2-for-2 in the opener with Driskill leading the offense with two runs scored and four RBI.

Cox secured her 10^th win of the year after allowing a single hit over the first three innings of the game.

Cheyenne Hegsted led the Southern Virginia bats in the opener with a 2-for-2 effort while Jamie Pinkston was tagged with the loss after allowing nine runs on 10 hits.

Southern Virginia turned the tables in game two as the Knights racked up a single run in the first and two runs in the second to build a 3-0 lead. The Knights got on the board when Cassandra Pacheco pushed home Katie Evans on a groundout to put Southern Virginia up, 1-0. Southern Virginia capitalized on two fielding miscues on the Eagles in the second as Bridgewater dug itself a 3-0 hole after two complete.

Bridgewater's (16-11-1) bats were silenced until the latter part of the game but it was the Knights adding two runs in the top of the fifth to take a 5-0 lead. Lainie Thompson ripped a single to center, scoring McKenzie Packard and Hegsted to put the Knights up by a five-run tally.

The Eagles finally got on the board in the home half of the fifth. Burgess was hit by a pitch with one out and moved to second on a single from the bat of Jenkins. Brooke Throckmorton's groundout put runners at second and third before a wild pitch allowed Burgess to score from third, trimming the deficit to 5-1.

Harris shut the Southern Virginia bats down in the sixth and the Eagles added another run to inch closer. Harris reached on a fielder's choice and went to second on an error before heading home on a Jen Balcom single to cut the score to a 5-2 Southern Virginia lead.

Bridgewater wouldn't go down without a fight in the seventh. Burgess led off the inning with an infield single and moved to second and third on passed balls. Throckmorton drove in Burgess on a single through the left side to slice the score to 5-3. Throckmorton moved to second on a passed ball while the Knights loaded the bases with back-to-back walks. Southern Virginia (4-19) worked its way out of the jam by rolling a game-ending groundout to secure the split and a 5-3 win in the nightcap.

Burgess led the Bridgewater offense with a 2-for-3 game with two runs scored in the finale. Amanda Lutz picked up the loss after allowing three runs over the first three innings before being replaced by Harris in the fourth. Harris allowed two runs over the final four innings in a relief role.

Three players tallied a hit each for the Knights in the nightcap while Pacheco picked up the complete-game victory in the circle.

Bridgewater returns to action on Saturday at home against Randolph-Macon. First pitch against the Yellow Jackets is set for 1:30 p.m.