Guilford College Softball Final – Bridgewater 6, Guilford 5

Salem, Va. – Bridgewater College scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh inning to score a 6-5 win over Guilford College in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Softball Tournament Saturday.

The Quakers’ second loss in the double-elimination tournament ends the team’s finest season with a 20-21-1 overall record. Bridgewater (25-14) advances in the tournament to play Virginia Wesleyan Saturday at 6:00 p.m. in an elimination game.

Guilford rallied from a 5-2 deficit with three runs in the top of the seventh inning. Kelly Hale’s one-out single in the inning capped the rally and tied the game at 5-5. Morgan Freyer and Amber Stapler added RBI hits in the inning.

Bridgewater’s Kathryn Bowman opened the inning with a single through the left side off of Guilford reliever Taryn Pulvermuller (4-5). She took second on Caity Butler’s single up the middle and went to third on Lauren Childress’ single to first base. Bowman scored the winning run on a throwing error by Hale on the play.

Bowman singled in all four at bats and hit run-scoring singles in the first and second innings as the Eagles built a 4-1 lead after two innings. Emily Morris’ two-run, two-out double in the fourth highlighted the Eagles’ three-run second.

Guilford’s Kelly Guarnieri led off the third inning with her fourth homer of the game to make it a 4-2 contest. Childress’ RBI single in the fifth made it a 5-2 game.

Reliever Becky Schmidt (11-2) got the win. Bowman had a game-high four hits and two RBIs for the Eagles. Morris finished with two hits and two RBIs. Childress and Jennifer Hall also had two hits.

Guarnieri matched her season high with four hits. The Quakers’ Amber Stapler went two-for-four with and RBI.

The Quakers set the school record for wins in a season and made its first ODAC Tournament appearance in five years.

Bridgewater 6, Guilford 5 (Apr 26, 2008 at Salem, Va.)
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Guilford………… 101 000 3 – 5 10 1 (20-21-1)
Bridgewater……… 130 010 1 – 6 11 3 (25-14)
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Pitchers: Guilford – DeNina Eldridge; Taryn Pulvermuller(6). Bridgewater – Lindsay Lam; Becky Schmidt(7).
Win-Becky Schmidt(11-2) Loss-Taryn Pulvermuller(4-5) T-1:41 A-142
HR GC – Kelly Guarnieri (4).
Game notes: Bridgewater advanced in the ODAC Tournament thanks to an unearned run in the 7th. Kathryn Bowman scored the winning run on an error after a Lauren Childress hit. Hale’s 1-out single in the 7th tied the game at 5-5. GC is eliminated from the double-elimination tournament. Pulvermuller faced 3 batters in the 7th.
Game: GCS-42