BRIDGEWATER, Va. - The Bridgewater College softball team swept non-conference opponent Hood to conclude the regular season. The Eagles have earned the fifth seed in this weekend's ODAC championship and will face No. 4 Roanoke on Friday in Salem.

Game One

• Final Score: Bridgewater 6, Hood 2
• Records: Bridgewater (22-17, 11-7 ODAC), Hood (16-18-1, 6-8 MAC)

How It Happened

• After a slow offensive start from both teams, Avery Pinder hit a single to the circle to start the bottom of third. She stole second before coming home on a Torie Shifflett RBI double to left center to score the first run of the day
• Bridgewater produced five runs in the bottom of the fourth, starting with a Jazmyne Smith two RBI homer. Samantha Martin found second base on a Blazer error and crossed home on the next at-bat thanks to a Kaitlyn Tirona double to left center for the 4-0 Eagle advantage. Pinder then tallied another single to advance Tirona to third. Both runners would cross home plate on back-to-back sacrifice flys from Kathryn Thomas and Brooklynn Fridley to give the Eagles a 6-0 edge
• Hood scored their only runs of the game on a two RBI home run in the top of the sixth. The Blazers added one more hit in the frame but could not catch the Bridgewater bats

Match Notes

• Shifflett had a game-high three hits followed by Morgan Lucas and Pinder with two
• Shifflett, Fridley, Tirona and Thomas all tallied a RBI. Smith led the Eagles with two
• Cheyenne Barlow and Pinder both stole a base with Pinder taking two. The senior currently ranks third in the conference with 21 on the year
• Samantha Martin earned the win, throwing four innings and allowing just one hit with four strikeouts. Kearston Bruce pitched the remaining three frames, allowing three hits with four strikeouts to match Martin

Game Two 

• Final Score: Bridgewater 9, Hood 7
• Records: Bridgewater (23-17, 11-7 ODAC), Hood (16-19-1, 6-8 MAC)

How It Happened

• Bridgewater got on the board early in the bottom of the first with a two RBI double to left center from Sarah Wimer to cross Smith and Fridley for a 2-0 lead. Hood responded in the top of the second with an unearned run after an Eagle error earlier in the frame
• The Eagles took a 3-1 lead in the bottom half of the inning on a Fridley RBI single to center field to score Annaliese Franklin. Franklin reached first base after leading off the inning with a walk
• Hood tallied runs in the top of the third and fourth frames before exploding for four runs in the top of the fifth. Down 7-3, Bridgewater answered the challenge scoring five runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth to take the 8-7 lead. Tirona, Franklin, Martin and Shifflett all recorded RBI in the stretch while Wimer, Lucas, Franklin Martin, Pinder and Shifflett provided the offense
• Bridgewater turned in a key double play to start the sixth inning and retired the third Blazer batter to keep the score at 8-7 in favor of the Eagles. Moving to the bottom of the frame, Wimer hit a double to center field before running home on a Thomas single to secure the 9-7 comeback victory

Match Notes

• Wimer posted a game-high three hits with Fridley and Pinder contributing two. Shifflett, Thomas, Lucas, Franklin, Hannah Mahan and Martin all had one each to make up the remainder of the Eagle's 13 hits
• Shifflett and Wimer each added two RBI
• Pinder led the Eagles once again with two stolen bases while Fridley, Smith and Thomas added one each
• Emma Killion earned the win from the circle, tossing the final two frames and allowing just one hit. Erica Nelson started the contest, throwing two innings and allowing two hits. Brantely Swift pitched the third and fourth frames while Savannah Painter tossed the fifth

Up Next

• The No. 5 Eagles will face the No. 4 Maroons of Roanoke College in the first round of the ODAC tournament on Friday at 12:00 p.m. in Salem. The Eagles will then play either No. 1 Lynchburg or No. 8 Eastern Menonnite depending on the results of both contests