SWEET BRIAR, Va. --- On Saturday afternoon, March 30, Sweet Briar Softball hosted Emory & Henry College in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference doubleheader. The pair of games was rescheduled, due to inclement weather, from the original March 17 date.
Vixen pitcher Cynthia Schuh (Tigard, Ore./Tigard) and the Vixen squad kept a clean slate through four innings. Both teams threatened to score, but neither could put a runner across the plate.
In the top of the fifth, the visiting Wasps broke a scoreless tie to go up 1-0. SBC responded by putting a runner on board as Tosha Brown (Fairfield, Va./Rockbridge) drove a ball into right field to reach first base. The Wasps recorded two outs on pop up fly balls and then Brown stole second. Emory & Henry pitcher Katie Grimm (Staunton, Va./Wilson Memorial) worked her way out of the jam by striking out SBC's Nikki Thompson (Axton, Va./Magna Vista) to end the inning.
The Wasps turned on the pressure in the sixth. E & H put up six runs on seven hits to give the visitors a seven run advantage. SBC's Tessa Crawford (Yorktown, Va./Tabb) drew a walk to start the Vixen rally in the bottom of the sixth. Crawford then advanced to second when Hollie Halford (Greenville, Ala./Greenville) put the ball in play. Halford was thrown out at first. Elizabeth Snyder (Newport News, Va./Denbeigh) collected her season's first RBI on a single to left field that scored Crawford and put SBC on the board.
Sweet Briar loaded the bases with one out, but again EHC pitcher Grimm recovered by striking out two to end the inning. The teams headed into the seventh with the Wasps enjoying a 7-1 lead.
The game got away from Schuh and company as the Wasps tacked on four more runs in the seventh. Emory & Henry took the game one win by the score of 11-1.
In game two, pitcher Megan Thompson (Newport News, Va./Warwick) and the Vixen side held EHC scoreless through two, however, the Wasps used a big third inning to take a lead they would not relinquish. The visitors capitalized on SBC errors and scored six runs on five hits.
SBC countered with a run to end the third, but EHC scored unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings to end the game with a final score of 12-1.
Sweet Briar returns to the diamond on Tuesday, April 2 when it hosts the Bridgewater College Eagles. The ODAC doubleheader is scheduled for a 3:30 p.m. start.
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