ASHLAND, Va. – The Bridgewater College softball fell to No. 8 Randolph-Macon in a pair of tight contests on Wednesday night.
THE BASICS:
Final Score:
Game one – No. 8 Randolph-Macon 6, Bridgewater 3
Game two – No. 8 Randolph-Macon 5, Bridgewater 4 (10 Inn.)
Records: Bridgewater 16-16 (9-5 ODAC); No. 8 Randolph-Macon 18-2-2 (9-1 ODAC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One:
- The reigning ODAC Pitcher of the Week Gracie Ellis opened the game with a pair of strikeouts, but Delaney Lail quickly silenced the hype with a two-out home run to get the Eagles on the board and ahead 1-0.
- Randolph-Macon did not hesitate to responded as a double and a single from the Yellow Jackets put runners in scoring position with no outs. A walk loaded the bases and a groundball to the fight side resulted in a BC error to tie the game up. A sacrifice fly followed and quickly put MRC ahead 2-1. The Yellow Jackets capitalized as another error loaded the bases with just an out. A single made it 3-0 but a nice play by Mckenna Mueller at short and a pop up to McKenzie Cauthorn in the circle ended the frame.
- RMC padded on to the lead in the home half of the third as a pair of walks put two runners on with two away. A single back up the middle by Ellis and another RMC base rip made it 5-1 for the Yellow Jackets. BC turned to Samantha Martin in the circle and the senior got a groundout to end the frame.
- BC has multiple runners on base in the top of the fourth, but left the runners stranded. RMC had a chance to pad on to the lead, but the BC defense did its job in the home end of the fifth with a play at the plate with the bases jammed to keep it at 5-1. Jazmyne Smith opened the top of the sixth with a single and Lail followed suit with a poke to get a pair of runners on. Lexi Schaaf reached on an error to load the bases and Abby Byrum delivered with a flyout just deep enough to allow the pinch-running Cheyenne Barlow to score and make it 5-2. Ellis got out of the jam with a pair of punchouts to keep the lead intact.
- The Yellow Jackets utilized some small ball in the bottom of the sixth and loaded the bases before a sacrifice fly drove in an insurance run to make it 6-2. The Eagles did not go down quietly in the top of the seventh as a pinch-hit single by Peyton Gregory ignited the offense. Jordan Wise followed with a single the opposite way and a wild pitch allowed for the two runners to move into scoring position with two outs. Lail drew a walk to load the bases and a rattled Ellis tossed another wild pitch to allow Gregory to trot home and slice into the deficit. Ellis regrouped and induced a groundout to her shortstop to end the game.
GAME STATS:
- Lail was the only Eagle with multiple base knocks as her 2-for-3 day, combined with a walk, led the BC attack.
- Naomie Sadler and Ellis anchored the Yellow Jackets in both facets of the game. The duo each recorded a pair of hits while Rilee Baugahn tossed in a pair of walks. Ellis (11-0) took the win after allowing six hits and a trio of earned runs while sitting down eight batters.
- Cauthorn (5-6) took the loss after allowing four earned runs over the opening 2.2+ innings of work. Martin marched through the final 3.1 allowing four hits and a single earned run.
GAME TWO
- Bridgewater hopped on the board first again in game two as a Smith double got the offense in business. Lail followed with a single the opposite way and Schaaf pushed Smith across with plate with a single the opposite way to make it 1-0. BC tried to extend the frame, but a duo of fielder's choices ended the side.
- RMC had chances to strike in the first and second, but finally broke through in the third by virtue of a two-out rally. Doubled and advanced to third in a wild pitch before Baughan got her own run support with a two-run blast to make it 2-1. A walk and single later in the frame gave RMC a chance to add on and that it did with a RBI base knock by Ellis to make it 3-1 after three.
- The RMC lead was short lived. Schaaf got tagged by a pitch to open the inning and the softball substitution rules got a workout. Hannah Mahan came into the game from the flex spot and stole second right away. Byrum delivered with a double to left center and drove in Mahan easily to slice the lead in half. Kaelyn Ramsey came up later in the inning and broke out of her mini slump with a single to drive in Byrum and tie the game at 3-3 heading to the home half of the fourth.
- Each side had chances down the stretch, and each left a runner at third at different times but could not capitalize. Lail stepped up in the bottom of the seventh and sat down RMC to send the game to extras. The Eagles looked to have squandered their chance in the top of the eighth with the extra-inning runner. BC was able to move Molly Ecroyd from second to third on a foul flyout and with two outs Ramsey walked to put runners on the corners. Andrea Savage stepped in and delivered with a single to drive in Ecroyd and make it 4-3 for BC. RMC had its chance next and a sacrifice bunt immediately put the tying run on third. A single by Ellis tied the game and a two-out walk for the Yellow Jackets put two runners on before a groundout to Mueller at short ended the frame and sent the game to the ninth.
- BC utilized the sacrifice bunt to move the extra-inning runner to third, but a pair of lineouts ended the top half of the frame tied. Lail made quick work in the bottom of the ninth as a three-up three-down frame sent the game to the 10th. BC laid down the sacrifice bunt to open the frame and moved the speedy Aniella Baldwin to third. Byrum flew out to shallow right field just not deep enough to allow Baldwin to tag up and attempt to score. A groundout ended the frame and handed the game back over to RMC tied at 4-4. The obligatory bunt moved the go-ahead run to third, but a walk in the next at bat put runners on the corners and gave BC a chance to roll the double play if needed. Ellis had other plans as she got her revenge on the homer to open the day with a single up the middle to drive in the winning run.
GAME STATS:
- Wise, Lail and Ramsey each recorded multi-hit efforts in the extra-inning loss as the Eagles pushed the No. 8 team in the land to the limit.
- RMC utilized the substitution rules to its full extent with seven different subs seeing action in the marathon that pushed the edge of daylight. Ellis led the attack again with a 3-for-5 effort with three RBI. Baughan (7-2) took the win in the circle and allowed 10 hits in her complete 10-inning complete game.
- Lail (3-3) went the full 9.1+ innings and took the loss. The rookie retired five hitters via the strikeout and allowed nine hits in the lengthy contest.
UP NEXT
The Eagles make the long trip south to Greensboro, N.C. to battle Guilford on Saturday in a key matchup in the middle of the ODAC standings beginning at 1 p.m.
