SALEM – The Roanoke College softball team took two from Eastern Mennonite at the Moyer Complex on Tuesday Night.  The Maroons move up to 17-7, 5-3 ODAC while the Royals fall to 22-8, 6-6 in conference play.  The Maroons move ahead of EMU in the conference standings with these pair of wins.
 
In the first game, the Maroons jumped on the board early as Stephanie Clark doubled in the first, scoring Leona Rainey from third.  The score stayed at 1-0 through the fourth inning.
 
In the fifth, Roanoke picked up the pace again as Katherine Kouri doubled, which was then followed by a Rhea Schleicher single.  Kouri would end up scoring off a wild pitch, and Schleicher came home from an Alea Bier double.  After five, the Maroons held a 3-0 lead.
 
Roanoke wasn't finished scoring as Clark crossed the plate off a Felice Lowery double in the bottom of the sixth, taking a 4-0 lead.  Kelly Higbie kept the Royals at bay for the remainder of the contest, picking up her 14^th win of the season with a final score of 4-0.
 
Higbie pitched the complete game shutout.  She only gave up three hits during the effort and struck out four.
 
In the second game, the Maroons continued to put the pressure on Eastern Mennonite.  Holly Warlitner hit a two-run bomb to right center field in the bottom of the first to take a Roanoke 2-0 lead.  In the same inning, Clark reached base on an error and proceeded to later score off a passed ball for the 3-0 lead.
 
The Royals responded in the top of the second as Courtney Allman hit a solo homer to center to cut the deficit to two, 3-1.   Roanoke continued its scoring ways in the second, as the team put up five runs in the inning.  Three of the Maroons reached base off walks, all of which proceeded to score.  Roanoke took the 8-1 lead after the bottom of the second.
                       
EMU put up one more run in the top of the third to bring the game within six, 8-2, after a single hit off the foot of Roanoke pitcher Stephanie Clark.  The Maroons opened the bottom of the third with a triple down the right base line by Kouri, followed by a sacrifice fly by Schleicher to bring the lead back to 7, 9-2.
 
EMU's Allman opened the top of the fourth with a first pitch homer, her second round-tripper of the game, and cutting in to the nine run lead, making it 9-3.  The Maroons continued to score in every inning of the game as a Meredith O'Connell single through the left side to score Caitlin Manuel from third to extend the lead to 10-3.
 
The Royals closed the gap in the top of the fifth as they put five runs on the board including a three-run homer from Rachel Breeden, making the score 10-8.  Roanoke continued it's consecutive scoring inning streak as Bier hit an RBI single, scoring Schleicher from second base, and increasing the lead back to three, 11-8. 
 
The Maroons proceeded to score three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to extend the lead to 14-8.  The Royals had one more run cross the plate in the top of the seventh, but it wasn't enough to pick up the victory.
 
Felice Lowery was 4-for-7 on the night with two RBIs.  Kouri went 3-for-7 on the evening scoring three runs with one RBI.
 
Stephanie Clark opened the game pitching three innings and striking out five.  Higbie finished the final four innings of the game, picking up her 16^th win of the season.
 
The Maroons return to action on Saturday, April 14^th, as they play host to Bridewater College in double-header action.  The contest will be held at the Moyer Complex and first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM.