Posted: Mar 18, 2009
The Roanoke College softball team will be playing Guilford at home on Wednesday, March 18 with game time set for 5:00 pm. The Maroons will turn around a day later and travel to Virginia Intermont College on Thursday, March 19 in Bristol, Va. The #19ranked Maroons are 9-1 so far this season. Game time for both doubleheaders are set for 5:00 pm.
Series Info
Roanoke is 12-0 against the Quakers, playing every year since 2003. The team has held Guilford to three runs or less in 10 out of the 12 games played, and the Maroons lead the series with a total combined score of 99-27. In 2008, they played the Quakers twice, with scores of 13-2 and 11-3. This will be the first meeting vs. Virginia Intermont.
Last Meeting
Greensboro, N.C. --- The softball team defeated Guilford College, 11-3 and 13-2 in a doubleheader at Guilford on Wednesday afternoon. With their 13th-straight win, the Maroons improved to 13-3 on the season, 2-0 in the ODAC. The Quakers dropped to 7-4-1 overall and 0-2 in ODAC play.
The Maroons are 12-0 all-time against Guilford and the 13 runs scored in the second game and 24 runs in the doubleheader were the most in the series. Both games were decided in five innings.
Tamara Poles hit a three-run homer in the second, an RBI groundout in the first and an RBI single in the fourth to win their 12-straight. Kelsey Ruitenbergretired the last eight batters she faced, had an RBI groundout in the first and an RBI single in the fourth.
Roanoke sent 15 batters to the plate in its 11-run 1st inning en route to its 13th-straight win in the twin bill. The Maroons scored nine of its 11 first-inning runs with two outs. Hilary Hudgins hit a three-run double and Ruitenberg added a two-run double to highlight the inning. Clarissa Norwich hit three RBI doubles for the Maroons.
Loren Messick and Norwich each went 5-for-6 in the doubleheader as Norwich hit four doubles. Messick had a double and a triple for two RBI with a walk. She also scored five runs. Hudgins went 3-for-5 with five runs, two doubles and four RBI. Ruitenberg went 4-for-7 with four RBI while Poles was 3-for-6 with four runs and her first home run of the season.
Gretchen Wolfe threw four innings in her fourth win of the season. Ruitenberg pitched a complete game with four strikeouts four her fifth win of the season.
Last Time Out
SALEM, Va. --- Roanoke softball continued to roll this weekend as it swept Penn St.-Altoona in the home opener at Moyer Complex. The Maroons improve to 9-1 on the season while the Lions dropped to 1-3 on the season.
Roanoke, who has won seven-straight, defeated the Lions, 6-1 and 13-0 in doubleheader action. It was the first-ever meeting against PSU-Altoona as they are in the midst of a three-day road trip. The Lions split with Sweet Briar on Saturday and will play at Ferrum on Monday.
Jessica Zeman got the scoring underway in game one with a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth as it sailed over left centerfield fence to give the Maroons a 2-0 lead. It was the first home run of her career.
Kelsey Ruitenberg's two RBI double sparked a four-run fifth inning, scoring Taylor Zahnand Felice Lowery. Clarissa Norwich'ssingle brought in Ruitenberg and she scored thanks to Gabby Moss's single to right center to make it, 6-0.
Norwich (2-1) pitched six innings of shutout softball for the second-straight outing, striking out 11 in her second win of the season. Ruitenberg went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI and two runs while Moss was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
In game two, Roanoke wasted no time, scoring six runs in the first-inning en route to a 13-0 win in five innings. Gretchen Wolfe went the distance in her shutout performance striking out five batters. She allowed only one hit in the Maroons seventh-straight win.
Lisa Scruggs went 3-for-3 with two runs and an RBI whileKristin McCormick was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Ruitenberg finished with a double and three RBI in the win. Sara Caudleand Lowery had a two RBI double apiece.
The Maroons scored in every inning, including four more in the fourth inning to end the game early. Ruitenberg was 3-for-5 with three runs, two doubles and five RBI on the afternoon.
Scouting the Quakers
So far this season the Guilford Quakers are 8-6, with a school-record six game winning streak with their two wins over Thomas College 13-1 and 8-0. The team scored a season high 13 runs on 16 hits, with Julie Langseth leading the team on three singles and two RBI during the first game. Their scheduled ODAC opener against Randolph-Macon was postponed due to rain, so the game against Roanoke College will be both teams ODAC opener this season.
Scouting the Cobras
Virginia Intermont is currently 7-15 on the season, 1-1 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference and were picked seventh in the pre-season poll. They recently split with UVA-Wise, including a 3-2 win in eight innings. They lost the second game, 6-5. The win broke an eight-game losing skid.
The Cobras are 2-2 against ODAC-member Emory & Henry, dropping the last two meetings (1-6, 10-13). They were scheduled to play the Maroons on March 1 and March 16 but rescheduled due to inclement weather.
About the Maroons
The Roanoke College Maroons are 9-1 overall on the season with a 13-0, 6-1 sweep of the Penn State Altoona Lions in a double header this past weekend. In the past 10 games, the Maroons have a record of 55-13 against their opponents, their best 10 game record since the 2006 season.
Coach Mitchell
This is Mike Mitchell's first season as the head coach of the Maroons, and spent two years as an assistant coach to the softball team. He was the head baseball coach at Virginia Western Community College from 1995-99. In his final year at VWCC, he led the team to the Virginia Community College State Championship. In 2002, he was named to the Roanoke Valley Sports Journal all-time men's fast-pitch team, earning a spot as the team's shortstop.
