College Softball Finals – Eastern Mennonite 9-12, Guilford 4-4

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Host Eastern Mennonite University swept an Old Dominion Athletic Conference doubleheader from Guilford College Saturday. The Royals claimed the opener, 9-4, and won game two, 12-4 in five innings.

Eastern Mennonite (12-6, 3-1 ODAC) rallied from a 3-0 deficit in game one with five fourth-inning runs. Brooke Hensley had a two-run double in the frame, which featured four walks, a wild pitch and an error by the Quakers.

Guilford drew to within 5-4 with an unearned run in the sixth inning, but the Royals answered with four in the bottom half of the frame. Hensley’s three-run homer highlighted the inning.

Hensley finished with five RBI, two hits and two runs scored. The Royals took advantage of eight walks by Guilford’s pitchers. Molly Smith improved to 4-0 with 3.2 scoreless innings of relief. She also went 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Allie Nicholson had two of Guilford’s six hits and scored twice. Teammate Sarah Cutright played two with a first-inning single.

Smith’s second-inning grand slam sparked the Royals to a 7-1 lead after two innings. She finished with three hits and seven RBI in the five-inning affair. Hensley had two more hits in the nightcap and Courtney Allman chipped in with two hits and three runs scored. Kaitlyn Morris improved to 2-5 and struck out five in the five-inning complete game.

Cutight paced the Quakers’ offense with three hits and two RBI. Marty Wilcox also had two RBI. Starting pitcher Brittany Donathan (3-1) was touched for six earned runs in 1.2 innings for her first loss of the season.

The Quakers’ ODAC doubleheader at Bridgewater College scheduled for Sunday (3/24) has been postponed. Guilford’s next scheduled contests are Wednesday (3/27) at North Carolina Wesleyan College.

Game 1

   Score by Innings                 R H E
   Guilford............ 201 001 0 - 4 6 1
   Eastern Mennonite... 000 504 X - 9 7 3

Win – M. Smith (4-0). Loss – Shaffer (2-4). Save – None.
Start: 1:00 PM Time: 2:14 Attendance: 125
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game
J. Aylor faced 2 batters in the 6th.
Game: GCS-21

Game 2

   Score by Innings               R   H  E
   Guilford............ 101 02 -  4   8  1
   Eastern Mennonite... 250 32 - 12  14  0

Win – K. Morris (2-5). Loss – Donathan (3-1). Save – None.
Start: 3:00 pm Time: 1:50 Attendance: 125
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game
Game: GCS-2