GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College and Randolph College split an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) softball doubleheader Friday afternoon at Haworth Field.
The Quakers (17-21, 4-11 ODAC) won the opener, 5-4, thanks to a pair of ninth-inning runs off of wild pitches. Randolph (18-16, 7-9 ODAC) rallied from a 4-0 deficit for a 6-4 win in the nightcap.
Guilford took a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning of the opener on Kimberly Keys’ two-run single. Randolph made it a 3-2 game on Gina Pagano’s lead-off homer in the sixth, her team-leading fourth blast of the year. The Wildcats tied the game with an unearned run in the seventh and went ahead in the top of the ninth thanks to a pair of Guilford errors.
Guilford’s Autumn Yoder was placed on second in the bottom of the ninth and moved to second on Morgan Andrews’ one-out single to right. The pair moved up on Ashley Boteler’s two-out walk. Yoder scored on the first of two Kristin Hutchinson (4-4) wild pitches. After Sarah Cutright worked another two-out free pass to reload the bases, Andrews came home on another wild pitch while Rachel Howard was batting.
Jessica Burcham (8-9) threw all nine innings to earn her team-leading eighth win of the year. She struck out six and walked two. Andrews finished with three hits, as did rookie Emily VanHaneghan, to lead Guilford’s offense in the opener.
Randolph’s Pagano was two-for-three with a double and a homer. Patti Vinson also had two hits and an RBI.
Pagano’s two-run single in the fourth tied the second game at 4-4 in the top of the fifth inning. Jessica Sanabria knocked in Amber Brooks, who ran for Pagano in the frame, with a two-out double later that broke the draw and sent the WildCats to victory. Sanabria was also the winning pitcher with six strong innings of two-hit relief. She yielded to Logan Carter in the bottom of the seventh and Carter recorded the final two outs for her team-leading fifth save of the year.
Four of Guilford’s six hits came in its four-run first inning. Brittany Donathan (Archdale, N.C./Trinity) had a two-run single in the inning. Burcham took the loss in relief of Shelby Bowser (Winston-Salem, N.C./Ledford).
Guilford visits Lynchburg College Sunday (4/22) in its regular-season finale.
Guilford – 5
Randolph – 4
Apr 20, 2012 at Greensboro, NC – Game 1
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Randolph............ 000 101 101 - 4 10 0 (17-16, 6-9 ODAC) Guilford............ 001 200 002 - 5 13 3 (17-20, 4-11 ODAC) ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Randolph – Brittney Via; Logan Carter(2); Kristen Hutchinson(9) and Alexis Arnett. Guilford – Jessica Burcham and Morgan Andrews.
Win-Jessica Burcham(8-8)
Loss-Kristen Hutchinson(4-4)
T-2:25
A-50
HR RAND – Gina Pagano (4).
Weather: 68, sunny
Game notes:
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game
Via faced 2 batters in the 2nd.
Game: GCS-37
Randolph – 6
Guilford – 4
Apr 20, 2012 at Greensboro, NC – Game 2
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Randolph............ 000 231 0 - 6 13 0 (18-16, 7-9 ODAC) Guilford............ 400 000 0 - 4 6 2 (17-21, 4-12 ODAC) ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Randolph – Kristen Hutchinson; Jessica Sanabria(1); Logan Carter(7) and Amanda Thacker. Guilford – Shelby Bowser; Jessica Burcham(5); Brittany Donathan(7) and Morgan Andrews.
Win-Jessica Sanabria(8-4)
Save-Logan Carter(5)
Loss-Jessica Burcham(8-9)
T-1:33
A-75
Weather: 68, sunny
Game notes:
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game
Game: GCS-38