LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Bridgewater Eagles softball team belted five home runs including four in the opener as the Eagles picked up a doubleheader split on the road at Lynchburg College on Wednesday afternoon.

In game number one, Bridgewater blasted three long balls over the first four innings of play as the Eagles ran away with the opener by a 7-1 score. Lynchburg used a three-run sixth inning to pull away in the nightcap en route to a 5-3 victory as the Eagles had to settle for a split.

Bridgewater (15-10-1, 6-7-1 ODAC) got the scoring started in the top of the first when freshman Lauren Jenkins smashed a two-out homer to put the Eagles out in front, 1-0. The homer for Jenkins was her second of the season.

Lynchburg answered quickly in the bottom of the first but the rest of the game would go the way of the Eagles. Jessi Hall opened the inning with a single before she swiped second to put a runner in scoring position with no outs. Danielle Powell reached on an error at shortstop to put runners at the corners and Hall scored on a Kayla St. John single to center to knot the game up at a run each.

The Eagles opened the second with a leadoff single from the bat of Brianna Cox. During the ensuing at-bat, sophomore Berkeley Driskill launched her first career home run with shot to centerfield to put Bridgewater up by a 3-1 tally after two innings of play.

Both teams went down without a run in the third prior to the Eagles blowing the game wide open in the fourth. Driskill walked to open the inning and was pushed home on a blast from the bat of Brea Hinegardner to extend the Bridgewater advantage to 5-1. Hinegardner's home run was her team-leading fifth long ball of the season. Her five home runs ranks in a tie for fourth in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).

Later in the inning, Amanda Lutz launched a pitch over the fence in the left-field gap to build a 6-1 Bridgewater advantage after three and a half innings of play.

Following a scoreless fifth and sixth, the Eagles added a single run in the seventh. Samantha Fridley and Cox hit back-to-back singles with one out prior to Driskill drawing a walk to load the bases. Hinegardner followed with a run-scoring single down the line in left, plating Fridley in the process to finalize the scoring in a 7-1 victory.

Hinegardner led the way for the Eagles with a 3-for-4 game while five Bridgewater batters had multi-hit outings in the opener.

Cox was stellar in the circle in earning her ninth win of the season. The Bumpass, Va. native allowed just one run on three hits over seven innings of work. Cox fanned four batters in the win.

Hall led the Lynchburg offense with two hits in game one while Elizabeth Fioretti was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs over the first three innings of play. Hope Johnson tossed the final four innings and allowed two runs on six hits.

Lynchburg (19-11, 7-5 ODAC) jumped on the Eagles in the second inning of the nightcap. Amber Ingram belted a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring St. John to put the Hornets up, 1-0.

In the fourth, the Eagles tallied the equalizer on a Jenkins RBI groundout which scored Kasey Anderson to knot the contest up at a run each.

The tie game would last just a short time though as the Hornets regained the lead in the bottom of the frame. Lauren Smith pushed in St. John on a single to right field to regain the lead at a 2-1 margin. Smith hit a three-run homer in the sixth to push the Hornets out to a 5-1 advantage.

The Eagles wouldn't go down without a fight in the seventh. Lutz singled to open the inning and moved to second on a wild pitch. Freshman Haley Harris launched a two-run blast to left, scoring Lutz in the process to trim the deficit to 5-3. Following the Harris homer, the Eagles would go down in order to settle for a 5-3 defeat.

Lutz tallied a 2-for-3 outing to lead the Bridgewater offense and picked up the loss in the circle after allowing five runs on eight hits.

St. John was perfect at the plate for Lynchburg in the finale, going 3-for-3. Ingram picked up the win after allowing three runs on five hits in a complete-game effort.

Bridgewater returns to action on Thursday when it hosts Southern Virginia. Start time against the Knights is set for 3:30 p.m.