ASHLAND, Va. - After posting a dozen runs en route to a game one victory, fielding woes plagued the Bridgewater Eagles softball team as the squad settled for a split in a conference twinbill at Randolph-Macon.

Bridgewater was victorious by a 12-7 score in the first game before falling by a 5-4 margin in game two. Senior Drew Rutledge crushed two home runs on the day to lead the Eagles offense. 

In the opener, Randolph-Macon got on the board first and held a 1-0 lead until Bridgewater tallied two runs off of an Emily Morris double to put the Eagles up 2-1.

Randolph-Macon responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the third, knotting the game up at two apiece.

Bridgewater exploded for four runs in the top of the fourth to blow the game open off of a Yellow Jackets fielding error which allowed Aven Thomas to reach base safely, driving in Heather Jenkins and Kasey Anderson, putting the Eagles up 4-2. During the ensuing at-bat, Morris' second straight double pushed in Thomas and Hillary Rees to extend the Bridgewater lead to 6-2.

In the home half of the inning, Randolph-Macon plated a pair of runs, but another four-run explosion from the Eagles in the fifth effectively put the game away.

After the Eagles opened the top of the fifth with a pair of outs, a Kristen Combs walk was followed by a Jenkins double which plated Combs to put the Eagles up 7-4.

The inning looked like it would be ended for Bridgewater after a Kasey Anderson strikeout, but the pitch got past the catcher, allowing Anderson to reach, keeping the inning alive. During the next at bat, Rees singled scoring pinch runner Morgan Williams to extend Bridgewater's lead to 8-4

Thomas ended the scoring in the fifth with a double which drove in Anderson and Rees to put Bridgewater up 10-4.

After a Randolph-Macon homer in the bottom of the fifth, the Eagles answered with a blast of their own with a two-run homer off of the bat of Rutledge to push the Eagles lead to 12-5.

The Yellow Jackets notched a pair of runs in the seventh but it wasn't enough as reliever Amber Marstin closed the door on R-MC to give Bridgewater the 12-7 game one victory.

At the plate, Bridgewater pounded out 14 hits in the opener with Morris' 3-for-5 game leading the way. The senior second baseman drove in a game-high four RBI in the win.

In the circle, sophomore Heather Jenkins picked up her eighth straight win, tossing 6.1 innings of work, allowing all seven Randolph-Macon runs. Jenkins struck out six in the victory.

Randolph-Macon was led by a 3-for-4 outing from Megan Shepherd. In the circle, Heather Lewis got the loss, allowing 10 runs in 4.2 innings of action.

In the second game, Randolph-Macon struck first with a run in the bottom of the first frame, before Rutledge blasted her second homer of the day in the top of the second to tie the score at one.

Randolph-Macon regained the lead in the bottom of the second and would hold a 2-1 lead through three innings of play.

Bridgewater knotted the game up in the fourth when a Lauren Childress lead-off blast tied the game at two each. Later in the inning, sophomore Leigh Lam scored when senior Angela Spinelli reached on an error to put the Eagles ahead 3-2.

The Yellow Jackets went down in order in the bottom of the fourth before Bridgewater led off the fifth with a leadoff blast from the bat of Thomas to put the Eagles up 4-2.

Randolph-Macon answered in a big way in the fifth, when Shepherd blasted a three-run homer to give the Yellow Jackets a 5-4 advantage.

Over the final two innings, Bridgewater had numerous opportunities to knot the game up or take the lead, but stranded five base runners as Randolph-Macon earned the split with a 5-4 game two victory.

Childress and Thomas led the Eagles at the plate in the nightcap as both players went 2-for-4 with a RBI each.

In the circle, Summer Ramsey picked up the loss. Ramsey went the distance, allowing all five runs while striking out one.

Defensively, the Eagles had two costly errors in the second game which allowed runs to score later in their respective innings for the Yellow Jackets.

Shepherd led the Yellow Jackets at the plate in game two, going a perfect 3-for-3.

Kristen Dize got the win in relief, pitching 2.1 innings of work. Lewis picked up the save in game two.

Bridgewater sits at 19-6 on the season, with a 9-3 record in conference play. The Eagles are in action tomorrow as they wrap up their weekend road trip with a doubleheader at Virginia Wesleyan.