Posted: Mar 28, 2015
RC moves to 8-10 overall and 3-3 in league play, while LC is now 18-9 against all teams and 6-2 versus ODAC foes.
Roanoke and Lynchburg combined for 13 hits in game one, with all four runs scored in third or fourth innings. The only two errors were committed by RC. Game two was a different story. Both teams reached double figures in hits (LC 14, RC 11), combining for 25 knocks in addition to 20 runs. All but one run was scored from the fifth inning on. Each squad also made its fair share of miscues with eight combined errors, including five by Roanoke.
Kelly Higbie picked up her fifth win (5-7) of the season for Roanoke in game one. She gave up just one run despite five walks. She scattered four hits and struck out a pair in working a complete seven innings. Lynchburg starter Hope Johnson (5-4) lasted just 3.1 frames after giving up three runs on six hits with a pair of strikeouts. Elizabeth Fioretti finished the contest, working 2.2 scoreless innings with three hits, a walk and two punchouts.
Roanoke got on the board first in the bottom of the third. Katie Smith singled to center to bring around Jordan Meadow. Rachel Guilliams also tried to score on the play, but she was thrown out at the dish by LC centerfielder Jessi Hall.
The Hornets leveled the score in the top of the fourth inning. Three walks to Amber Ingram, Olivia Donohue and Skylar Seals loaded the bases for Amber Sutler, who drove in pinch runner Jessica Murphy.
One swing from Becca Wenger quickly broke the tie in the bottom of the frame. After Marleigh Hall singled to left with one down, Wenger stepped up and drilled one over the left-center fence for a two-run blast. Those proved to be the final runs of the game as neither pitcher allowed another runner to reach third base over the final three innings.
Meador had two hits to lead the Maroons offense. Taylor Carter and Rhea Schleicher stole one base each. Four Hornets had one hit apiece with Kayla St. John drawing a pair of walks. Jessi Hall stole a base.
Both teams used more than one pitcher in game two. LC starter Conner English struck out 10 batters, but she was tagged for six runs (five earned) on six hits with four free passes in 5.2 innings in the circle. Fioretti gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits with a pair of whiffs, while Johnson (6-4) rebounded from the game one loss to get the win. She gave up one unearned run on two hits with two strikeouts in 1.1 innings.
Ruthie Williams got the start for Roanoke. She gave up six runs on 10 hits, but the errors came into pay as only one run was earned. She struck out one and did not walk a batter. Much like Johnson, Higbie (5-8) entered in relief in game two and took the loss after giving up five runs, albeit only two earned, in 2.1 innings of work. She gave up four hits and struck out one.
Lynchburg broke a 0-0 deadlock in the fourth inning. A Seals' single plated Lauren Smith after Smith had advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Roanoke put itself in the driver's seat by scoring three times in both the fifth and sixth innings. Three walks to Jenna Pendelton, Taylor Carter and Taylor Sutherland loaded the bases for Katie Smith. Smith drove in both pinch runner Katie Romano and Carter with a single to left, and a error by the leftfielder allowed Sutherland to cross the dish.
Samantha Baldwin led off the bottom of seventh with a bang, smacking a homer to left field. It would be the first of three homeruns hit in this contest. Roanoke did not stop scoring runs as Carter doubled home Guilliams for the second run. Sutherland brought around the third run for a 6-1 lead after reaching on an error at second base.
Lynchburg forced extra innings with a five-run seventh inning, which included three RC errors. Jessi Hall reached on a miscue with one down. St. John and Danielle Powell followed with singles to load the bases. Ingram bounced one back to the circle, where Williams forced out Hall at home. With two down, Lauren Smith and Logan Walker reached on consecutive errors that allowed three runs to come around. Higbie took to the rubber for Williams. Seals met RC's reliever with a single that drove in two more runs, ultimately leading to extra innings.
The Hornets took the lead in the eighth as Lesie Bourgeois hit a two-run homer to center, bringing around English. Roanoke answered in the bottom of the frame. Sarah Groft brought around tiebreaker runner Schleichler with a single. Groft later came around on Sutherland's double. LC made a pitching change to bring in Johnson to face Katie Smith. Smith singled and Sutherland, trying to score from second, was thrown out at home by Jessi Hall, marking the second outfield assist at home for the Hornets' centerfielder.
With the score tied 8-all, LC added three more runs in the ninth. Ingram, the tiebreaker runner, came around on a Maroons' error on a Lauren Smith grounder. Smith later scored on a ground out by Seals. Johnson added one more insurance tally with a solo shot to left-center.
Roanoke got one back in the bottom of the ninth. Alexis Roop singled to center to move tiebreaker runner Katie Smith to third. Wenger then hit a sac fly to center, allowing Smith to score and making it 11-9 Lynchburg. Marleigh Hall, pinch running for Roop, moved to second on a passed ball, but that is where she stayed as Johnson struck out the final two batters.
Katie Smith led Roanoke with three hits and a pair of RBI while also stealing a base. Groft had two hits. Seals' three hits and four RBI highlighted LC's lineup, while Jessi Hall, Powell, Lauren Smith and Bourgeois each had two hits.
Roanoke returns to action on Sunday as the Maroons make the trip to Sweet Briar College. Game one of the doubleheader is set to begin at 1:00 p.m. in Amherst.
