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Box Score 2 VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - In a conference twinbill on the road, the Bridgewater Eagles softball team dropped game one by a 3-2 score in 10 innings before falling in the nightcap by a 5-0 tally to the Virginia Wesleyan Marlins on Sunday afternoon.
Bridgewater got on the board in a hurry in game one with a single run in the top of the first. Junior Kasey Anderson led off the inning with a walk and was pushed into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from freshman Haley Lloyd. Anderson moved to third on a wild pitch and was plated on a sacrifice bunt from the bat of Melanie Lamb as the Eagles took a 1-0 lead.
The Marlins responded to the Bridgewater run with one of their own in the bottom of the second to lock the game up at a 1-1 score. Chelsea Henline led off the inning with a single and was driven in on a Kayla Dost sacrifice fly to bring the contest to a 1-1 deadlock after two complete.
Both teams had limited opportunities across the ensuing five innings of play as senior Heather Jenkins and Marlins hurler MacKenzie Creech locked up in a classic pitchers' duel to keep the game tied at a 1-1 score, forcing extra innings.
Bridgewater tagged a run on the board in the top of the eighth to regain the lead, 2-1. Anderson was placed on second to start the frame and moved to third when Lloyd reached base on an error by Creech to put runners on the corners. Freshman Brooke Throckmorton stung a single through the left side to push home Anderson and give the Eagles a 2-1 advantage. Bridgewater loaded the bases later in the inning but left the sacks full as they held on to a 2-1 lead heading to the bottom of the eighth.
Virginia Wesleyan put up a run in the bottom of the eighth on a Kristina Karagiorgis sacrifice fly to push the game into another extra inning, this time with the game knotted up, 2-2.
In the ninth inning, both teams went down without a run while the Eagles couldn't push a run across in the 10th, leaving the door open for the Marlins.
After placing Taylor Galvin at second to open the inning, Galvin was pushed to third on a sacrifice bunt from Dost. Virginia Wesleyan took the opener when Andrea Shannon belted a single down the right field line, scoring Galvin in the process to take a 3-2 win in 10 innings.
Four Bridgewater batters recorded a hit each in the loss, with Anderson scoring both runs for the Eagles.
Jenkins picked up the loss, allowing three runs, including just one earned run across 9 and 1/3 innings of work.
Shannon led the Marlins offense with a 2-for-4 effort while Creech picked up the victory, going the distance allowing two runs on four hits and fanning a dozen batters.
Game two saw the Marlins offense roll up five runs while the Eagles were silent in a 5-0 Virginia Wesleyan win.
After a scoreless first inning, the Marlins got on the board with three runs in the second inning to take a 3-0 lead after two complete.
Freshman Brianna Cox replaced game two starter Aven Thomas in the circle in the third and was nicked for a single run in the fourth and sixth as Virginia Wesleyan took a commanding 5-0 lead after six innings of play.
Bridgewater looked to get on the board in the seventh inning. After a pair of outs to start the frame, Jenkins reached on an error and freshman Brittany Flora drew a pinch-hit walk to put runners on first and second, but the brief rally ended with a strike out as the Eagles fell by a 5-0 score in the nightcap.
Lamb, Jenkins and Leigh Lam each tallied a hit for the Eagles offense, while Thomas was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs on three hits over the first two innings of the game. Cox tossed the final four innings and allowed two runs on six hits in a relief effort.
Courtney Bogan was a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs scored for the Marlins in the nightcap as Virginia Wesleyan posted nine hits in the finale.
Karagiorgis tossed a complete-game, three-hit shutout for the Marlins to secure her 13th win of the season.
Bridgewater is back in action on Thursday when it hosts Roanoke. First pitch of game one of the twinbill against the conference-leading Maroons is set for 3:30 p.m.
