HARRISONBURG, Va. --- The Roanoke College softball team rebounded from last week's performance to go 4-0 over the two-day road trip. They knocked off Sweet Briar, 9-4, 4-2 and gave Bridgewater its first conference losses of the season, 4-1 and 12-5.

 

Roanoke (17-5, 7-3 ODAC), which went 4-4 last week in splitting four-straight doubleheaders, came into this week ready to respond with convincing wins over ODAC competition. They are now 8-0 against the Vixens and hold a 34-14 series advantage over the Eagles, which broke a skid of losing four of the last five games.

 

The Maroons pulled away in game one against SBC in the top of the fifth as Kelsey Ruitenberg's two run homer highlighted a three-run inning in a 9-4 win. Clarissa Norwich, Lindly Theroux, Jessica Zeman and Ruitenberg all collected two hits while Felice Lowery, Gabby Moss and Sara Caudle all hit doubles in the win.

 

Gretchen Wolfe (7-2) struck out eight batters in six innings of work. Ruitenberg struck out the side in the final inning to give the Maroons their first game one win of a doubleheader in five tries.

 

Felice Lowery and Kristin McCormick hit solo home runs in the first and the seventh innings, respectively, to claim a 4-2 victory to complete the sweep over the Vixens. Caudle led Roanoke going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Christina Ramos went 1-for-2 with a run scored while Lisa Scruggs had a double.

 

Ruitenberg (6-1) won in two innings of relief for the Maroons, striking out three with no hits allowed. Janie Holmes went five innings and scattered three hits with one walk in addition to two runs.

 

Clarissa Norwich (6-2) allowed only one run and scattered six hits in a 4-1 win over Bridgewater in the first game of today's doubleheader. She went 6.2 innings with two strikeouts while Wolfe came in to get the final out for her first save of the season.

 

Lowery's single brought in Caudle for the game's first run in the top of the first to jump on the Eagles early. 

 

Norwich found herself in a bind in the bottom of the fourth as the Eagles threatened to take the lead. Bridgewater forced a walk to bring in a run and keep the bases loaded with two outs. But her defense helped her get out of the jam as the Eagles grounded out to second as they left three runners on base.

 

The Maroons quickly responded in the top of the fifth with three runs off only one hit and three Bridgewater errors to take the lead for good.

 

Roanoke scored the most runs against the Eagles since 2002 in a 12-5 win to complete the first sweep over the Eagles since the 2005 season. Ruitenberg went 3-for-4 with two runs, four RBI and two homeruns to give her six for the season. She is tied for sixth for single-season round trippers her 14 career homers is one shy of fifth all-time with Kari Whitney '00.

 

On the mound, Ruitenberg (7-1) took her second win in relief in as many days with four strikeouts. She is now three strikeouts shy of fifth on the all-time list (184).

 

Caudle had three hits including a home run to go along with a career-high four runs and two RBI. Beth Nicoll collected two hits while scoring a run and driving in two. Lowery went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Ramos had a pinch-hit RBI single in the win.

 

The women will take on ODAC-leader Lynchburg Saturday, April 4. The Maroons are 23-14 in the series against the Hornets, but have lost the last three meetings. The doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.

 

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