Softball Final – Bridgewater 4, Guilford 2 (ODAC Tournament)

SALEM, Va. – Hillary Rees’ two-run single in the fourth keyed a three-run inning and lifted Bridgewater College to a 4-2 win over Guilford College Friday in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Tournament.

The loss at the Moyer Sports Complex marked Guilford’s second of the tournament and eliminated the Quakers (26-15) from the eight-team event. Bridgewater (27-9) advanced to play Virginia Wesleyan College later Friday in another elimination game.

Julie Langseth’s RBI double in the second spotted the Quakers a 1-0 lead, but the Eagles tied the game in the fourth on Kristen Combs’ RBI double. They went ahead three batters later on Rees’ two-out hit to center.

Guilford got one of the runs back when Courtney Kozar drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk to make it a 3-2 game. The Eagles replaced starter Heather Jenkins with Aven Thomas (9-1) and Thomas got Kimberly Keys, Guilford’s top run producer, to pop up to first base and end the threat.

Thomas cruised for the rest of the game, allowing only a fifth-inning double to Ami Hutcherson (Staley, N.C./Eastern Randolph) and a sixth-inning walk to Ashley Boteler. The Eagles added an insurance run in the fourth on Sarah Heretick’s two-out RBI single.

Drew Rutledge had a game-high three hits for Bridgewater and scored twice. Combs also had two hits and reached base four times. Rees went two-for-three with two RBI.

Guilford’s Hutcherson and Courtney Hayes (Seagrove, N.C./Southwestern Randolph) both had two of Guilford’s six hits in the game. Jessica Burcham (Lexington, N.C./South Davidson) (14-6) took the loss, despite fanning 10 batters for the seventh time this season. She finished her junior year with school records for wins (14) and shutouts (7) in a season. Her 1.91 earned run average this year stands second all-time at Guilford.

Coach Dennis Shores’ team finished with 26 wins, matching the second-highest total in school history. Kozar, one of the Quakers’ four seniors, ended her career as the school’s all-time leader in batting average (.389) and on-base percentage (.655). Hutcherson finished with 162 hits in four years, five shy of the school record, and a Guilford-best 26 stolen bases in her career.

Bridgewater 4, Guilford 2 (Apr 22, 2011 at Salem, VA)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridgewater......... 000 310 0 -  4 10  1      (27-9)
Guilford............ 010 100 0 -  2  6  0      (26-15)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Bridgewater - Heather Jenkins; Aven Thomas(4) and Sarah Heretick; Leigh Lam.
Guilford - Jessica Burcham and Morgan Andrews.
Win-Aven Thomas(9-1)  Loss-Jessica Burcham(14-6)  T-2:00  A-85
Weather: 52, overcast
Game notes:
Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament elimination game
Game: GCS-41