BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Behind three long balls and a 19-run explosion from the offense, the Bridgewater Eagles softball team cruised to a doubleheader sweep over visiting Eastern Mennonite on Wednesday afternoon in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action.

Bridgewater (14-8, 6-2 ODAC) rolled to an 8-0 win in five innings in the opener and held the Royals off in the nightcap to secure an 11-7 win. With the shutout victory in the opener, senior pitcher Heather Jenkins recorded her 19^th career shutout, breaking the former school record of 18 set by Lisa Rhodes in 2007.

After an early feeling out period during which both teams went down without a run in the first and second innings, the Eagles used a three-run third to take the lead in the middle of the contest.

Freshman Brooke Throckmorton got things going in the third with a one-out single before senior Morgan Williams was hit by pitch to put runners at first and second with one away. Sophomore Kasey Anderson followed with a run-scoring single to left, plating Throckmorton to put the Eagles out in front 1-0. Freshman Haley Lloyd reached on a fielder's choice and pushed home Williams on a play at the plate to put the Eagles up 2-0 while fellow freshman Karie Burgess scored Anderson on an RBI groundout to build up a 3-0 Bridgewater advantage.

Jenkins retired the Royals (14-10, 3-5 ODAC) in order in the fourth before the Bridgewater bats exploded for five runs in the bottom of the frame to take an 8-0 lead after four complete.

Following a strikeout to open the inning, back-to-back singles from Aven Thomas and Brea Hinegarder put runners at first and second for the Eagles. Throckmorton followed with a single to left center, scoring Thomas to push the lead to 4-0. Williams worked the count to 2-1 in the ensuing at-bat before drilling a rocket over the left-center field fence and into the scoreboard to blow the game wide open and hand Bridgewater a 7-0 lead.

Anderson answered with a single up the middle. The sophomore swiped second and was moved to third on a wild pitch prior to being pushed in on a Lloyd fielder's choice to extend the Eagles' lead to 8-0.

In the top of the fifth, Jenkins sat the Royals down in order for the second straight inning to secure an 8-0 win in game one.

Anderson and Throckmorton each recorded two-hit games for the Eagles at the plate as Bridgewater scored eight runs on as many hits in the opener. Lloyd tallied two RBI in the win, while Williams drove in a game-high three runs on a 1-for-1 effort.

Jenkins tossed a complete-game two hitter to record the shutout victory. The senior struck out three batters and surrendered just one walk to record her ninth win of the season.

Shortstop Brooke Hensley and right fielder Aislynn Lucas each recorded a hit for the Royals in the loss. Pitcher Molly Smith was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs on four hits across three innings of work.

Runs were plentiful for both teams in the second game but it was Bridgewater amassing enough offense to run away to an 11-7 win.

Eastern Mennonite got on the board with a single run in the first inning as the Royals owned a 1-0 lead after the top of the first, but the Eagles wasted little time in answering to take the lead for good.  

Anderson led off the first with a walk and was pushed to second on a Burgess groundout before a Melanie Lamb double to right center pushed home Anderson to tie the game up at a run each. Jenkins followed with a walk and Thomas loaded the bases with an infield single. Hinegardner worked the count full and drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Eagles up 2-1 before Throckmorton beat out a slow roller to third and pushed home Jenkins to put Bridgewater in front 3-1. Williams rounded out the scoring in the first when she drilled a single to right field, plating Hinegardner and Thomas in the process, as the Eagles ran out to a 5-1 lead after one inning of play.

In the second, the Royals cut the lead to 5-3 off of a Jordan Aylor homer, but Bridgewater again answered the Eastern Mennonite rally with three runs of its own.

Lloyd opened the inning by reaching on an error and was pushed to second on a sacrifice bunt from Burgess to put a runner in scoring position with one away. Lloyd moved to third on a wild pitch and was driven in on a single down the right field line from the bat of Lamb to put the Eagles in front 6-3.

Following a foul out for the second out of the inning, Thomas belted a 1-1 pitch over the left field fence to blow the game open and hand Bridgewater an 8-3 advantage.

Eastern Mennonite again responded with a run in the third off of a homer from Angelia Miller to trim the lead to 8-4 which is how the game would remain through four-and-a-half.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Eagles looked to put the game in the books but had to settle for a pair of runs as they owned a 10-4 lead after five complete.

Throckmorton drew a one-out walk to get things going and was pushed to second on a Williams single to give the Eagles a pair of one-out base runners. Anderson followed with a single to load the bases before a Lloyd single to center field pushed home Williams and Throckmorton to put Bridgewater in front 10-4.

Burgess reached on a fielder's choice and the bases remained full as an error on the shortstop's throw to third sailed wide before a strikeout put two away for the Eagles. Eastern Mennonite worked its way out of the jam as the Eagles owned a 10-4 lead with two innings to play.

The Royals tagged three runs on the board in a sloppy sixth inning to trim the Bridgewater lead to a manageable 10-7 score, but the Eagles answered yet again to finalize the scoring in the sixth.

Following a groundout to open the inning, Hinegardner stung the first pitch she saw over the right center field fence to round out the scoring and help hand the Eagles an 11-7 victory.

Throckmorton completed the perfect day with a 3-for-3 effort in game two. On the day, the freshman went 5-for-5 with three runs scored, two RBI and a walk. Lamb and Thomas each added multi-hit games for the Eagles in the second game as Bridgewater tallied 12 hits in the win.

Freshman Brianna Cox tossed 2.2 innings of relief to secure the victory in the second game. The Bumpass, Va. native allowed just three hits and no runs in a strong relief effort.

Brooke Sigrist was outstanding at the plate for the Royals with a 4-for-5 effort in the second game. The centerfielder drove in three runs for Eastern Mennonite and scored once in the loss.

Starting pitcher Kaitlyn Morris was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs on four hits while recording just two outs in the first inning of action.

Bridgewater is back in action on Friday at home when it hosts Southern Virginia. Start time against the Knights is set for 3:30 p.m.