Softball Release - (2005) - E&H - ODAC Elimination Loss - Guilford College
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VIRGINIA WESLEYAN STAYS ALIVE IN ODAC SOFTBALL TOURNEY WITH 6-4 COMEBACK WIN OVER GUILFORD
Salem, VA (4/23/05) -- Becky Sowel's two-out, two-run single sparked
Virginia Wesleyan's three-run fifth inning and helped the Marlins rally for a
6-4 win over Guilford in the consolation round of the Old Dominion Athletic
Conference (ODAC) Softball Tournament Saturday at the Moyer Complex. The win
came in the third-seeded Marlins' (22-12-1) third straight game of the day.
Virginia Wesleyan advanced to the tournament's
eighth game Sunday at noon against Emory & Henry in another elimination game.
Saturday's second loss eliminated the fourth-seeded Quakers from the tournament
and ends their season with a 16-24 overall record. Bridgewater needed eight
innings to beat the Quakers, 4-3, in the tourney's first game.
Guilford took a 2-0 lead on a leadoff homer by
Jennifer Franklin followed a Carla Cain dinger one out later. The
Marlins tied the game in the third on Brianna Strain's two-run double. Ashley
Cooke's RBI single in the bottom of the third scored Franklin and
gave the Quakers a 3-2 edge.
Guilford starter Jennifer Evans (6-11)
worked out of a fourth-inning jam that saw the Marlins get runners on second and
third with one out. Evans ran into trouble in the fifth despite getting
the first two batters out. After a two-out single by Kim Mulholland, the Marlins
took advantage of a passed ball and a Guilford error to set up Sowell's decisive
hit. Cara Byrd plated Sowell with her third single of the game for a 5-3
Marlins' lead.
The Quakers pulled to within 5-4 with an unearned
run in the sixth inning, but the Marlins answered with an unearned run of their
own in the top of the seventh on an RBI single by Sowell. Sowell relieved Cris
Long on the mound in the bottom of the seventh and earned her first save of the
season. She allowed two Quakers to reach base before retiring Jennifer King and
Kendra Harvey on strikeouts to end the game.
Virginia Wesleyan played three straight games due
to a scheduling quirk caused by the postponement of Friday's games. The Marlins
opened the day with a 6-5 win over Emory & Henry in eight innings, which sent
them right into a game with second-seeded Lynchburg. The Hornets prevailed, 4-0,
which dropped Virginia Wesleyan into the consolation bracket and the Guilford
game.
Virginia Wesleyan 6, Guilford 4 (Apr 23, 2005 at Salem, VA)
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Virginia Wesleyan... 002 030 1 - 6 10 4 (22-12-1)
Guilford................ 201 001 0 - 4 9 3 (16-24)
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Pitchers: Virginia Wesleyan - Garbati; Long(5); Sowell(7). Guilford - Evans;
Dunnigan(5).
Win-Garbati(7-2) Save-Sowell(1) Loss-Evans(6-11) T-1:50 A-123
HR GC - Franklin; Cain.
Game notes:
Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament Game 6. Guilford is eliminated
with its second loss. Va. Wesleyan advances to play Sunday at 12:00.
Becky Sowell's 2-run double with 2 out in the 6th gave VWC the lead.
Cara Byrd followed with an RBI single in the 6th.