GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College’s softball team dropped two Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) games to visiting Shenandoah University Sunday. The Hornets (7-14, 4-5 ODAC) extended their winning streak to five with an 8-3 win in the opener and a 9-4 triumph in game two.
Sophomore lefthander Megan Tripp improved to 3-6 with a complete-game five-hitter in the opener. She was backed by Lindsay Corbin, keyed the Hornets’ three-run first inning with a two-run home run, her team-leading fifth blast of the season. Heather Cink paced the offense with a game-high three hits, including an RBI double in the first and a run-scoring single in the fifth.
The Quakers scored two unearned runs in the fifth inning to make it a 4-3 game, but Shenandoah answered with three in the sixth and Guilford never threatened again. Cynthia Hayes doubled and scored a run for the Quakers. Teammate Rachel Howard was one-for-three with an RBI. Casey Snead (4-3) yielded 10 hits, six earned runs and struck out four in the complete game.
Shenandoah’s bats kept pounding away in the nightcap as the Hornets opened a 7-0 lead and never looked back. Brittany Guepe and Kimberly Brady had run-scoring hits in the three-run second inning off of Guilford hurler Maggie Shaffer (9-4). A Quakers’ error led to two unearned runs in a three-run third frame and Morgan Coble added a sacrifice fly in the fourth to open the seven-run margin.
Guilford’s Marty Wilcox opened the bottom of the fourth with her team-leading sixth homer of the season, which was the Quakers’ first hit of the game off of Shenandoah starter Lisa Mitro (3-3). Wilcox’s homer triggered a four-run inning that brought Guilford to within 7-4 after four innings.
Shaffer retired the side in the fifth and Wilcox drew a lead-off walk in the bottom half of the inning, which chased Mitro in favor of Tripp. The sophomore southpaw retired the next nine batters in succession for the save.
Guepe and Brady were among four Hornets with at least two hits in game two. Rookie Helen Good notched the first two hits of her college career and drove in two runs. Guepe and Coble also had two RBI.
Hayes paced the Quakers’ offense with two hits, including a two-out, two-run single in the fourth.
Coach Dennis Shores’ Quakers (21-7, 6-6 ODAC) host Meredith College Wednesday in a nonconference doubleheader beginning at 2:00 p.m.
Game 1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Shenandoah 3 0 0 0 1 3 1 8 10 2
Guilford 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 5 3
Win – Megan Tripp (3-6).
Loss – Snead (4-3).
Save – None.
Umpires –
Start: 2:00 pm Time: 1:24 Attendance: 100
Weather: 58, sunny, breezy
Game 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Shenandoah 0 3 3 1 0 2 0 9 12 0
Guilford 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 4 2
Win – Lisa Mitro (3-3).
Loss – Shaffer (9-4).
Save – Megan Tripp .
Umpires –
Start: 3:45 pm Time: 2:05 Attendance: 100
Weather: overcast, 55
Lisa Mitro faced 1 batter in the 5th.