LYNCHBURG, Va. – Despite an afternoon that saw the Randolph College softball team make six errors, a late rally in game two helped the WildCats earn a split in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) twinbill with No. 17 Lynchburg College Saturday afternoon. LC earned the first contest 5-1, with the WildCats taking the nightcap 3-2.

                In the opener, Lynchburg (16-5/3-1) scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first inning on an RBI single by Danielle Powell. The WildCats (19-7/4-4 ODAC) tied the game in the top of the third as first-year Erin Wehrhan (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) drove in Haleigh Wilson (Stuart, Va./Patrick Co.) with an RBI triple.

                LC would get all the runs it would need in the bottom of the fourth though, putting a three-spot on the board to take a 4-1 lead. The Hornets added an insurance run in the sixth inning, as Jessi Hall scored an unearned tally.

                The WildCats managed just three hits in the opener off of LC's Hope Johnson, as Patti Vinson (Williamsburg, Va./Lafayette) had a double and Wehrhan was two-for-two in game one. Randolph starter Logan Carter (Richmond, Va./Midlothian) went five innings, allowing four runs (one earned), striking out four.

                In game two, Randolph took an early 1-0 lead on the second batter of the game as junior Brittney Via (Charlottesville, Va./Monticello) homered down the left field line. Lynchburg tied the game in the fourth inning, as Hall knocked in Kasey Clary, who had reached earlier in the inning on an error.

                Errors again plagued the WildCats in the sixth stanza, as another unearned run came around after a throwing gaffe with two outs to give the Hornets a 2-1 lead. Randolph did not go down without a fight though, as Jess Sanabria (Burgaw, N.C./Pender) blasted a solo shot to left center to knot the game at two in the top of the seventh.

                The visitors kept the rally going in the seventh frame, and got runners on second and third with two outs before Vinson singled in Via to give the WildCats a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. Carter retired the Hornets 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh to give Randolph the needed win.

                Carter earned her sixth win of the season, going the last two innings while allowing just one hit. Via was two-for-three with two runs scored, and Ashley Gardner (Ashburn, Va./Stone Bridge) had two hits including a big double in the seventh. Randolph homered twice in game two, only the second time all season that has happened (Feb. 23 at Virginia Intermont).

                Via tossed two innings in the circle in game two, allowing one run (zero earned) on two hits, while starter Kristen Hutchinson (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery) surrendered no runs and scattered three hits over three frames of work.

                The WildCats will host The University of Maine-Presque Isle Monday afternoon at 3 p.m. on the Randolph Softball Field in the last non-conference doubleheader of the season.

--RANDOLPH--