SWEET BRIAR, Va. --- The Sweet Briar College softball team squared off with the Squirrels of Mary Baldwin College on Monday afternoon. Sweet Briar entered the contest on a quick turnaround from Friday's double-header at Bridgewater College. The Squirrels entered the twin bill in search of a win after dropping two on the road against Greensboro.
SBC struck first off a run scored by first-year Hollie Halford (Greenville, Ala./Greenville). The short stop drew a walk and then took second when Mary Baldwin catcher Ginny Griffin (Suffolk, Va./Lakeland) gave up a passed ball. In the following at bat, Amanda Catlett (Spotsylvania, Va./Spotsylvania) grounded out to Squirrels pitcher Jessica Hogle (Verona, Va./Fort Defiance) allowing Halford to advance to third. Halford strolled home when again Griffin was unable to get her body behind the ball. The bottom of the first inning ended with the Vixens up 1-0.
Mary Baldwin responded by putting up big numbers in the second inning. Vixen pitcher Christen Campbell (Appomattox, Va./Appomattox) made the Squirrels earn each at-bat and she nearly pitched herself out of a jam. After the first two Squirrels got on base, Campbell retired Kelsey Still (Alderson, W.V./ Greenbrier East) and Sabrina Desper (Staunton, Va./Stuarts Draft) before the Vixen defense committed three errors that lead to six runs for the visitors. The five run advantage proved to be a lead the Vixens could not catch. MBC took game one (10-2).
The Vixens looked to rally in game two, but were not able to pull off the feat. MBC jumped out to a quick lead (4-0) in the top of the first. SBC's Catlett scored a run for the Vixens in the first inning after reaching first on an error by the short stop, advancing to second on a sac-fly by Campbell, and then crossing home plate on a passed ball. The Squirrels answered with another four runs in the second inning and they tacked on more insurance runs in the third.
SBC looked to get things going in the fourth after Campbell leadoff with a double and Brooke Scott (Houston, Tex./Episcopal) slapped a single to generate the run. MBC retired the side, and then scored a run in the bottom of the fifth. In their last at-bat, SBC put just one score on the board and the game ended in victory for the visitors.
The Vixens are back in action on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. when they face Old Dominion Athletic Conference foe Randolph-Macon College.
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