In Coach JD McCurdy’s words, “Now we really know the true story about our offense.”
And the story is that EMU’s softball women, from the top of the order to the bottom, can hit any pitcher.
The Royals proved that true by taking a pair of walk-off victories from Randolph-Macon Tuesday in Harrisonburg, each time knocking around one of the ODAC’s top pitchers. Lauren Seale (Madison, Va./Madison County) launched a three-run homer to finish off a 7-4 win in game one and Tiffani Shaheen‘s (Fluvanna, Va./Fluvanna County) RBI double off the right field fence capped a three-run seventh in the 8-7 nightcap.
Already brandishing the best offense in the ODAC, Eastern Mennonite earned an impressive sweep by disproving the old adage that “good pitching beats good hitting.” The women made a bold move from fourth to second place in the ODAC, now with a record of 10-4. R-MC, last year’s ODAC Tournament Champion, falls out of second and is now 7-5 in the league.
Next up for the Royals is a non-conference match Thursday against Messiah College, ranked No. 18 in last week’s NFCA national poll. Start time is 3:00pm in Harrisonburg.
EMU 7, Randolph-Macon 4
The Yellow Jackets snuck in a run in the top of the first of the opener and made it 2-0 with a solo homer in the fourth. But Carli Hill (Staunton, Va./Fort Defiance) returned fire with a two-run shot to left in the bottom of the frame, tying it up at 2-2.
Randolph-Macon took back momentum with another solo homerun in the fifth, setting up the game’s dramatic ending.
Hill hit a one-double in the sixth, but looked stranded until R-MC’s centerfielder dropped a fly ball on what should have been the third out. Hill scored to tie it up at 3-3.
With two outs in the top of the seventh, R-MC’s Brandi Mulvena tripled. The Royals set up to intentionally walk R-MC’s cleanup hitter, but a wild pitch brought in Mulvena to put the visitors back in front.
In what could have been a deflating sequence for many teams, the Royals kept at it. Senior Angelia Miller (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) led off the bottom of the seventh with a longball to center, tying the score once again at 4-4. After back-to-back singles, Seale smashed the first pitch she saw over the right field fence for the walk-off win. It was her fourth homerun of the year, and second time she launched one in the seventh inning of a game.
The offense banged out 12 hits, including three homers, to go with six walks off of R-MC’s vaunted pitching staff. Carli Hill was 2-4 with two runs and two RBIs and Shaheen batted 3-4. Miller had her homer and two walks while Aislinn Lucas (Grottoes, Va./Fort Defiance) was 2-3 with a walk and two runs. Payton Hill (Staunton, Va./Fort Defiance) also had two hits along with a sacrifice.
Seale pitched all seven innings and worked around eight hits to get the win.
EMU 8, Randolph-Macon 7
The Yellow Jackets again scored in their first at-bat in the second game, combining four hits for three runs. But Carli Hill singled to lead off the bottom of the frame and the Royals caught fire. The women got back-to-back-to-back doubles from Mariah Foltz (Broadway, Va./Broadway), Danyele Smith (Broadway, Va./Broadway) and Sydney Reath (Chambersburg, Pa./Mercersburg Academy) to plate four runs and take a 4-3 lead.
Miller added an RBI single in the third to bump the lead to two runs.
Randolph-Macon got going late once again, started by a Candace Whittemore’s solo homer in the fifth. They added two more in the sixth to go ahead 6-5, with the go-ahead run coming across unearned. The Royals went down in order in the sixth, and R-MC added an insurance run on a two-out single in the seventh to lead 7-5.
But in similar fashion to the first game, Miller led off EMU’s last at-bat and started a rally, this time reaching on a fielding error. After a pair of strikeouts, a comeback looked bleak, but Jasmine Johnson (Staunton, Va./Robert E. Lee) shot a gapper to right center to bring in Miller and put herself on second. Carli Hill lined a single to left and alertly advanced to second when the throw went home to try to get Johnson. Shaheen followed, and with the slap-hitter down to her final strike, she swung away and lined a double off the right field fence to chase home Hill and give the elated Royals their second walk-off of the day.
The women had 11 hits in the nightcap and capitalized on six R-MC errors to score four unearned runs. Six of the first seven Royals in the batting order reached base safely twice, either with two hits or a hit and a walk. Carli Hill and Smith each scored twice with one RBI, while Foltz had two RBIs and one run scored.
Reath pitched the first 5.2 innings and took a no decision after giving up six runs. Seale threw the final 1.1, allowing one run, to earn both wins on the day and improve to 7-2.
Eastern Mennonite has a .366 team batting average, well ahead of Guilford’s .345 to lead the ODAC.