Wednesday was a pitchers’ duel to the fullest. But visiting Shenandoah made two mistakes and EMU took advantage for a 2-0 win. A line of thunderstorms rolled through Harrisonburg then, cancelling game two of the doubleheader.
The Lady Royals got a single in the first and a pair in the second, but SU starter Brooke Over got out of the jam each time. Lisa Lee (Buckingham, VA/Buckingham County), meanwhile, didn’t allow a runner until a two-out walk in the third.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fifth. Lee drew a two-out walk. Within a couple of pitches, the speedster took off for second. As Lee slid in with the steal, the throw from the Hornets’ catcher sailed wide and into shallow center field. Lee took off for third and then took advantage of a lack of hustle in the outfield by turning the corner for home, sliding in headfirst and slapping home for the first run of the game.
Back in the circle in the top of the sixth, Lee continued her no-hitter with her third consecutive one-two-three inning.
In the bottom of the frame, Over had two outs but made a bad pitch to Sara Jenkins (Stanley, VA/Page County). The first baseman ripped it over the left field fence for a 2-0 lead and her third homerun of the season. A couple of minutes later, lightning forced a lengthy delay to the game.
Lee tried to close out the no-no when play resumed, but gave up a one-out single in the seventh. She kept her composure, however, and coaxed out back-to-back fly balls to earn the shutout victory.
Another lightning bolt then put the start of game two in a delay, before finally postponing it altogether. As both teams have had a handful of games cancelled this spring, the two will try to schedule another doubleheader in the coming weeks.
Lee improved to 7-2 with the win, as she struck out two and allowed only two base runners via one hit and one walk. Over allowed five hits and walked two but also struck out 12 Lady Royals out of 18 outs.
Jenkins finished 2-3 from the plate with her homerun. Rasheeda Crews (Brookneal, VA/William Campbell) had a pair of singles and Molly Smith (Elkton, VA/Spotswood) had a hit and a walk.
Now 17-3 overall, the women take on ODAC play in earnest. Eastern Mennonite, 1-1 in the conference, plays at Guilford on Saturday followed by two at Lynchburg on Sunday.