Virginia Beach, Va. --- Roanoke College softball finished 4-0 at the Virginia Beach Blast this weekend. The Maroons improved to 7-1 on the season with wins over Baruch (NY), Rowan (NJ), Salisbury and NC Wesleyan.

 

Felice Loweryled Roanoke offensively, batting .417 (5-of-12) with four runs and an RBI for the weekend. Katherine Kouriand Clarissa Norwicheach had three hits and three RBI. Norwich also had three runs and a double.

 

Kelsey Ruitenberg, Norwich and Gretchen Wolfeprovided great performances on the mound this weekend, with Ruitenberg picking up two wins and striking out 10 batters.

 

Norwich's no-hitter performance and Ruitenberg's two-run blast gave the Maroons a big 3-0 win over #30 Rowan (NFCA Poll). The Maroons improved their record to 5-0 against Rowan thanks to a big third-inning at the plate, scoring all three runs. Sara Caudle walked and later came home on a fielder's choice to add the third run.  Norwich (1-1) allowed only one walk in her first win of the season.

 

Ruitenberg pitched her second-straight shutout effort in an 8-0 victory in five innings over Baruch in the second game of the tournament. Kouri went 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored. Gabby Moss also went 2-for-3 including a double and two RBI. Norwich had a double, two runs scored and two RBI. Roanoke scored four runs in the first and fifth inning to end the game early.

 

Against Salisbury, the Maroons forced the Sea Gulls to play catch-up for the entire game as Roanoke scored a run in the second, fourth and sixth innings. Beth Nicoll's single up the middle scored Abbey Greenberg in the second to give the women a 1-0 lead. Kristin McCormick's double scored Norwich to go up 2-0 after four innings of play.

 

The Sea Gulls got on the board in the fifth inning when Meaghan O'Gara hit a solo home run to cut the Maroons' lead in half, 2-1. Roanoke answered back with an insurance run in the top of the sixth inning after Norwich's single scored Lowery to go up, 3-1. SU chipped away at the two-run deficit in the bottom half when Ali Ritter went deep with a solo home run.

 

Roanoke defeated Salisbury for the first time since the 2003 season and are now 4-7 in the series against the Sea Gulls.

 

Roanoke defeated NC Wesleyan, 2-1 in an eight-inning pitcher's dual.  The Bishops took an early, 1-0 lead as Meredith Mills drove in Wesleyan's lone run in the top of the third. The women answered back in the bottom half as Taylor Zahn's sacrifice fly scored Moss to tie the score.  Caudle scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the eighth to win the final game of the day. The Maroons are now 6-2 against the Bishops.

 

The women will take on Penn State-Altoona on Sunday, March 8 in non-conference action. It will be the first meeting against the Lions as they will open their 2009 season this weekend. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. at Moyer Complex.

 

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