College Softball Finals – Roanoke 9-11, Guilford 1-2

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Roanoke College’s Kelly Higbie raised her nation-leading win total to 13 with a pair of complete-game victories in the Maroons’ Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) doubleheader sweep of Guilford College Wednesday. Roanoke (13-3, 2-0 ODAC) won the opener, 9-1, and claimed the nightcap, 11-2, to extend its winning streak to nine.

Stephanie Clark had two doubles and three RBI in the opener and Leona Rainey hit her team-leading fifth home run in game one. The Maroons scored single runs in the first and third innings before Rainey’s two-out, two-run blast made it a 4-1 game. Rhea Schleicher hit a two-out solo shot in the sixth before Roanoke tacked on four more runs in the seventh. Alea Bier had a game-high three hits and scored three times for the Maroons.

Higbie (13-3) scattered nine hits and yielded only a first-inning run in the opener. She picked up where she left off in game two, retiring the first eight batters before Sarah Cutright singled for the first of her two hits. The Quakers scratched out two unearned runs in the fifth on a Morgan Andrews triple, but scored no more. Higbie held the Quakers to five hits in the nightcap.

Roanoke opened the second game with five first-inning runs off of Guilford starter Jessica Burcham (3-4). The first five Maroons all had base hits, including Hollee Warlitner, who hit a two-run single in the inning. Warlitner paced Roanoke’s 16-hit performance with three hits and added a game-high three RBI. Six different Maroons had at least two hits in the contest. Rainey, Clark and Caitlin Manuel each had two RBI.

Guilford returns to action Sunday against league-rival Bridgewater College. The ODAC doubleheader starts at 2:00 p.m.

Roanoke – 9
Guilford – 1
Mar 21, 2012 at Greensboro, NC – Game 1

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   Roanoke............. 101 201 4 -  9 13  0      (12-3, 1-0 ODAC)
   Guilford............ 100 000 0 -  1  9  2      (10-7, 0-3 ODAC)
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Pitchers: Roanoke – Kelly Higbie and Felice Lowery. Guilford – Ashley Boteler; Shelby Bowser(5) and Morgan Andrews.
Win-Kelly Higbie(12-3)
Loss-Ashley Boteler(4-2)
T-1:50
A-75
HR RC – Leona Rainey; Rhea Schleicher.
Weather: partly sunny, 70
Game notes:
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game
Game: GCS-17

Roanoke – 11
Guilford – 2
Mar 21, 2012 at Greensboro, NC – Game 2

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   Roanoke............. 502 011 2 - 11 16  3      (13-3, 2-0 ODAC)
   Guilford............ 000 020 0 -  2  5  1      (10-8, 0-4 ODAC)
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Pitchers: Roanoke – Kelly Higbie and Kaci Frick. Guilford – Jessica Burcham and Morgan Andrews; Alex Todd.
Win-Kelly Higbie(13-3)
Loss-Jessica Burcham(3-4)
T-1:45
A-75
Weather: Sunny
Game notes:
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game
Game: GCS-18